


Crashing Down

by immortalbanner



Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Anxiety, Friends to Lovers, M/M, POV Third Person, Slow Burn, character driven, long fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2019-10-30 05:25:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 55
Words: 102,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17822738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immortalbanner/pseuds/immortalbanner
Summary: Tweek and Craig broke up in sixth grade. The one thing that didn’t end from that was their friendship, something they’re both desperate to keep. But are they able to forget about their romantic feelings for each other when everything around them keeps pushing them together?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HOLY FUCKING SHIT I AM HYPED! 
> 
> Backstory: I’ve been working on this for almost five months. This entire fic is already written and I’ll be updating pretty much every day. I should note you’re in for quite a lot. This was never meant to be as long as it got but I love where it ended up going. I hope you enjoy it!

The most annoying question that came out of Tweek and Craig’s sixth grade breakup was when Cartman asked if they’d gone back to being straight. The sock to his jaw hopefully got the message across that he was wrong.

Craig kind of knew he and Tweek would breakup eventually. A lot of the time their relationship was treated as something sweet and cute. Around the time of their breakup though, his mom would make him keep the door open during Tweek’s visits. Soon after that, his mom would set out a cot for sleepovers, instead of letting him sleep in the bed with him. After his mom grounded him after she found Tweek sleeping next to him he’d realised how fast he was growing up.

A lot of people seemed to assume that the breakup was angry. Maybe even malicious. But it wasn’t, they’d just decided they’d be better off as friends; a mutual, easy breakup. Tweek wasn’t exiled from Craig’s group, and Clyde, Token, and Jimmy didn’t make it weird. They just carried on as normal, as if kissing and holding hands and cuddling had never happened.

They broke up not long after their first middle school dance, and the pictures their parents insisted on taking the night of were the last tangible thing they had of their relationship. Craig still had those pictures, even if they were no longer together, he still meant a lot to him. They were best friends instead of boyfriends, his strong feelings didn’t just disappear just because they’d broke up.

He was happy they were able to maintain their friendship. The hardest thing about their breakup, he had noticed quite quickly, was how hard it was to break the habit of calling him pet-names. He started calling Tweek ‘babe’ and ‘honey’ as more of a joke, and then he saw how much Tweek liked them. So he kept it up. The hand holding was also something he had kind of missed, it used to be instinct but he’d had to remind himself over and over that he couldn’t do that anymore.

Other than that, it wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t like they had some terrible breakup where they couldn’t stand the sight of each other. Friendship was probably better for them. The last thing he wanted was for them to have some fight that made them hate each other and they couldn’t go back to friendship.

His friendship with Tweek meant more to him than anything. He didn’t want to lose that just because they dated in elementary school.

 

* * *

 

 

Tweek was pretty sure child labour was illegal in the state of Colorado. Yet, somehow, his parents were completely okay with forcing him to bake cupcakes for Tweek Bros. since he was eight and he’d been working in the actual coffee shop for longer. Mostly sweeping floors. He knew most people would call that ‘chores’ but he was pretty sure it only counted if he got paid.

At least nowadays, he did get paid. He knew it was so his parents wouldn’t have to hire anyone else and pay him under the minimum wage, hell, even take whatever tips he might get.

Being the only coffee place in town also meant he saw classmates more often than he would’ve preferred. It usually consisted of classmates trying to weasel themselves into free or discounted drinks. Even if the most he’d said to them at school was asking for a pen.

Partway through his shift, when he was sweeping the floor, he saw Craig, Clyde, Jimmy, and Token step in. He held back a sigh when he saw them. As much as he loved his friends, he was a little sick of them showing up and not even buying anything.

He ignored them as they sat at a table and continued to sweep the floor. He looked over his shoulder for a moment and saw they were talking and glancing his way. He smiled and rolled his eyes. Work definitely affected his social life, so he was at least a little happy to see his friends sometimes out of school.

“Tweek, could you unpack the boxes in inventory?” his dad called from behind the counter.

And of course his dad had to always ruin it.


	2. Chapter 2

A lot of people at school were trying out Tinder, and Craig was kind of tired of his dry spell. He didn’t know how to find other queer guys in this town, so it seemed to be his only option. During that time, Tweek seemed to be pretty terrified that Tinder was still full of murderers. On the day of Craig’s first date with a guy he met on it, Tweek texted him constantly, asking him if he was still alive. His date wasn’t impressed, and ended it early thinking it was his boyfriend texting him. Craig had let him think what he wanted, he wasn’t going to tell him it was his ex-boyfriend he was still great friends with texting him.

He didn’t really mind the date failed anyway. The guy was cute and nice but he didn’t hold his attention. He ended up going to Tweek’s and falling asleep on his couch during a binge watch of The Good Place. Tweek had felt bad about ruining his date, but Craig had decided that he preferred his time with Tweek.

Tweek’s parents were surprised to see him that morning. He and Tweek had decided to make pancakes for breakfast — okay, technically Tweek was the one doing the making — and looked at him curiously when they saw him on a stool practically drooling as Tweek worked at the stove.

“Morning Craig,” Mr. Tweak said. “Didn’t expect to see you.”

He gave him a weak smile. “Fell asleep. Sorry.”

“Oh don’t worry. You know you’re always welcome here,” Mrs. Tweak smiled. “Just as long as your parents know where you are.”

He nodded. He’d texted his mom when he left his date anyway. She never had an issue with him crashing at a friends. She definitely would rather him be at Tweek’s than a stranger he’d met on Tinder. Definitely not at sixteen.

Tweek set a plate of pancakes in front of him, and had topped it with maple syrup and strawberries. He was drooling at the sight of it.

“I’m still really sorry I ruined your date,” Tweek said when his parents left for work.

“It’s fine,” he said through a mouthful of food. “It was only one date and all. Although, being called a cheater when you’re not is sucky.”

“And that was my fault. I really don’t get how you can trust those sites. Anyone could be a scammer, or a liar, or a rapist–”

“It’s fine, I can defend myself. I _am_ trained in sumo after all.”

He laughed and nodded. “I know that better than anyone. But really, be careful please.”

“I promise you, I’ll make sure the worst I get are assholes. Okay?”

He nodded. “Please keep that promise– not that I want you to deal with an asshole but…” he trailed off and looked down at the counter.

“I know.” He hoped the worst he got was an asshole too. “I’ll make sure to be safe, I promise.” He grinned at him but that didn’t wipe the concern from his face.

“Thanks for trying.” He turned back to the stove and got a start on his own pancakes.

 

* * *

 

 

Considering they lived in such a small town, Craig was surprised by how many girlfriends Clyde seemed to go through.

Clyde seemed to also be the kind of person who liked PDA _way_ too much. He found him making out with a girl at his locker at least once a week.

That was probably where he was now while Craig went to meet up with Tweek at his locker. He leaned against the locker next to his as Tweek got out his books.

“Did you snag any cupcakes?”

Tweek turned his head to him. “Yep.” He opened his bag and pulled out a paper bag. He happily took it and opened it, taking out a red velvet cupcake. The cream cheese frosting was kind of smudged, but he happily stuffed it in his mouth.

One of the real benefits of Tweak Bros. was that Tweek would grab him cupcakes whenever he could sneak some. That habit began in seventh grade when he’d realised Craig skipped breakfast and insisted to try and bring him something. Craig definitely wasn’t complaining.

“You’re the best, I love you.” He grinned at him and took a big bite of it.

Tweek smiled back at him. Craig ignored how much he loved that smile.

“Did you bring more?” a voice cut in.

Craig turned to see Token and Jimmy walking towards them. He heard Tweek’s locker close. “No,” he said. “My parents would notice if I took anymore.”

“Wuh-wuh-why is it always Craig who g-g-gets th-th-them?” Jimmy asked, sulking in his direction.

“Because he doesn’t eat breakfast.”

“ _None_ of us eat breakfast,” Token said.

“Clearly he likes me best then,” Craig said, taking an obnoxiously big bite of the cupcake.

“Yea-yeah, I wuh-wonder why,” Jimmy joked.

It was a normal joke between them. They’d all mostly gone way past the time Craig and Tweek had dated. All it really left was jokes they all made, he and Tweek especially loved indulging in them.

Clyde finally showed up, jogging up to them. He and Tweek, Jimmy, and Token had learnt it was best to not ask what he’d been doing. Craig just mostly didn’t care what he did with his life, and he didn’t want to hear about whatever Clyde did with the girl of the week.

“How did your date go anyway?” Clyde asked, after their quick hellos and groans about homework.

“I left it,” he shrugged. “Dude wasn’t even that interesting.”

“Ah shame. There’s always next time, right?”

“You say that like I’ll meet the love of my life on Tinder.”

He shrugged. “It’s happened before.”

“I really wish you guys would stop acting like people can’t literally kill you through online dating,” Tweek cut in.

Craig looking at him and smiled. “You’re probably more right than Clyde.”

Clyde stared at him with a raised brow. “What? You don’t think he’s being even a little overdramatic? It’s normal nowadays, you’re not using Craigslist.”

He knew that. He also knew it was best to not dismiss Tweek anxieties but Clyde didn’t really get that.

“Doesn’t matter,” he shrugged. “It was a boring date and I’m young enough that it’s not big deal now if I find someone.”

“Well, you’re going to have a hard time finding anyone in this town.”

He laughed in spite himself. Clyde was right, if he never got out of this town it’d be pretty hard to find other queer guys, especially ones to date.

Really, he was happy to have his friendship with Tweek to lay on for as long as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

It actually didn’t take too long to find a match on Tinder Craig liked more than a little bit.

His name was Jordan and he lived in South Park. They didn’t go to school together since he attended a private school in Denver.

Jordan took him on a date to a roller rink in town. It was a surprise and Craig had said it was gay which had made Jordan laugh. Craig decided he liked his laugh.

Jordan had told him it was his first date with a person, and when Craig told him the last time he’d had a boyfriend was when he was twelve, Jordan had smiled and teased him about it not counting. Craig let the comment roll off his back and focussed on enjoying his date.

“So, what’s he like?” Tweek asked, his feet resting on Token’s couch. Clyde and Token were setting up the popcorn in the kitchen, and Jimmy was filing through the options on Netflix since it was his turn to choose a movie.

“He’s nice,” he smiled.

“Only nice?” Tweek asked, cocking his head to the side.

“It’s only been one date,” he shrugged. “It’ll probably get better I guess.”

He smiled. “Does he have friends?”

He laughed and hit him with a cushion. “You’re not using me to get your own boyfriend, dick.”

“How else am I meant to get a boyfriend?”

“You could try getting one yourself, you know.”

He groaned, falling back onto the couch. “But it’s too hard.”

He smiled and shook his head. He glanced over at the TV, seeing Jimmy was still flipping through Netflix.

“Dude, just pick something,” he said as Clyde and Token came into the room with popcorn and bowls full of candy.

“Give me a m-m-minute!” Jimmy said, glaring at him.

Clyde laughed and shook his head, sitting in the empty spot next to Craig. “What’re you two talking about?” he asked, staring at Tweek who was still on his back.

“He wants me to help him get a boyfriend through the guy I went on a date with.”

“You can’t be that useless, Tweek.”

He sat up and scowled at him. “I’m sorry, not all of us has what feels like unlimited dating options. Unlike you, my dating pool is pretty small.”

“Tinder, dude. Or better yet, Grindr.”

Craig snorted. “The only thing Grindr is good for is hooking up or getting off on guys torsos.”

Tweek laughed, and nodded his head. Minus the getting off part, they’d had nights they were bored and went on Grindr for a laugh. Maybe even messaged guys for the fun of it. That was the furthest Tweek had gone into online dating, and probably would go. They really needed to go to a gay bar when they were twenty-one, or they obtained fake ID’s somehow.

“That, and murderers,” Tweek interjected, drawing his knees to his chest.

Clyde rolled his eyes. “Are you still worried about that?”

“It’s a reasonable worry!”

Craig smiled and shrugged. “Kinda is.”

Clyde shrugged. “Fine, hopefully you get a lot of dick in college.”

Clyde got a deserving cushion in the face from both Tweek and Craig for that while Token and Jimmy made sounds of disgust.

 

* * *

 

Jordan became his boyfriend after their third date. They went to the movies to see a new comedy and they kissed right before the credits started to roll. He hadn’t kissed anyone since Tweek in sixth grade, and he wasn’t about to complain about this kiss.

Jordan had his own car and he’d taken him to a nicer cinema half an hour away from South Park. The radio filled most of the silence but Craig’s mind was still on the good time he had.

“So that kiss?” Craig said, looking at Jordan. He looked at him for a moment, a smile on his face.

“That was my first, so hopefully it wasn’t terrible.”

He laughed, feeling his face blush. “It was good.”

“Was it your first?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Nah, my first kiss was when I was ten. I kissed my then boyfriend under the slide.” He laughed at the memory. Both of their faces had been bright red and it had only been a peck. But even the memory gave him a nice feeling in his stomach.

It was times like that he had to remind himself that he and Tweek had gone back to being friends a long time ago.

“Ten? Does that even technically count?”

He stopped himself from flinching. He didn’t love hearing his relationship with Tweek meant nothing. It had meant the world to him when it was happening. Even now, it had impacted how he perceived relationships. When they’d started dating, he wasn’t sure how to handle feeling so much for one person. Then he had to learn how to support him emotionally. He was going to keep everything he’d learnt from that relationship and use it for future ones.

But maybe it was for the best, if he saw Tweek as a ‘real’ ex then it would probably lead to trust issues when he hung out with Tweek alone.

“Guess not,” he said, trying to push the memories from his mind and did his best to not let the words bother him.

 

* * *

 

Much to Tweek’s disappointment, Craig’s boyfriend did not have any friends for him to date.

Tweek had noticed Craig seemed to spend a lot of time with Jordan. Not that he completely ignored him or the rest of the group, but he did notice he was seeing him a lot less. It wasn’t jealousy or anything. He told himself he was just annoyed he was still single.

At least the guy went to a different school and he – and uh, Clyde, Token, and Jimmy of course – had Craig to himself.

He’d hoped at least since Craig spent a lot of time texting him. Even during lunch, and it started to grate on Tweek’s nerves a bit.

“Dude,” Tweek frowned at him. “You know you’re seeing Jordan after school, right?”

He glanced at him and shrugged. “I know, I just wanna talk to him now.”

He rolled his eyes. “That’s gay.”

He gave him the middle finger with a smirk. “You’re gay.”

Clyde snorted across from them. “You two are unbelievable,” he said before taking a bite of his burger.

“And me and Tweek need more queer friends,” Craig shrugged before looking back down at his phone.

Tweek always wondered how Craig seemed to so easily go back to seeing him as a friend. If he had his way, he and Craig would still be together. And not because he was tired of being single.

Yeah, he needed to find a boyfriend for himself.

“You should bring him for guys night,” Token said. “We want to actually meet whoever seems to be more important than paying attention to us.”

“Oh, right, guys night,” he frowned. “Sorry, Jordan’s school is having this charity thing and he asked me to go.”

“You’re missing g-g-guys’ night?” Jimmy asked and raised a brow. “Wow, you’re already more wh-whipped on him than you were on Tweek.”

“Shut up,” Tweek and Craig said in unison. That was a tease that had been put to rest a long time ago. Hell, none of their friends had teased Craig for being ‘whipped’ or whatever on Tweek since seventh grade at the latest.

“Next week, okay?” he said. “I’ll bring him next week.”

Tweek looked at him and frowned. “It’s your turn to pick a movie though,” he said, his voice kind of weak.

He shrugged. “Skip me and I’ll go next time. Whose turn was it next week again?”

“Mine.”

“Good, then you should be happy about that,” he smiled and went back to his phone, tossing french fries into his mouth.

He nodded, and stared down at his food. It was a good thing. He’d get to choose the movie this Friday and Craig got to have a good time with his boyfriend. It was a win-win for them both.

 

* * *

 

Tweek was angry at him. Craig had noticed that sometime after lunch the other day.

He was used to emotional Tweek at this point. And he knew how to handle it best out of all their friends. But it was harder to figure out how to help when he had no idea what was even wrong with him. He still seemed passive aggressive about missing guys night that Friday.

It wasn’t and shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Guys’ night was every Friday, he was just missing it that one time.

He’d texted Clyde about it and he didn’t think Tweek was even acting weird. He dropped that conversation quickly. He knew Tweek well enough to know when he was upset. Apparently it wasn’t the same for the rest of the gang.

He decided it was best to just go to Tweek’s and ask him. Even though he could be stubborn about it, he could usually get him to break and tell him. When they had their first real fight as a couple, Tweek had seemed appreciative when he at least tried to communicate with him. They didn’t have many disagreements nowadays, so communicating feelings was something that didn’t happen too often. But when it did, he usually felt better afterwards.

“Room’s kind a mess,” Tweek said when they stepped into his room. He didn’t close the door behind them, Tweek’s mom yelled at them to keep the door open. That wasn’t surprising, even if they were no longer dating, for both of them, their parents thought if they closed their doors then hormones would take over like they were animals or something. As annoying as it was, it was probably better than having homophobic parents. Jordan was out to his parents and they were accepting, but they didn’t even let them go into his room at all. Craig’s parents treated Jordan like he was Tweek though, not that he’d jump on him when his parents were home. They hadn’t gone beyond making out anyway so they had nothing to worry about.

“So what’s up?” he asked, sitting on his bed.

Craig stuffed his hands into his coat and slouched on his spot. “Are you mad at me?”

He frowned. “Dude, come on.”

“Tweek,” he said. “Are you mad at me?”

He chewed his lip and shrugged. “I’m just annoyed that you’re missing guys’ night, that’s all.”

He scratched the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you guys.”

He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s just that you never miss it, I don’t want you to be that guy who forgets his friends because he’s getting some dick.”

He sighed and sat next to him. “I won’t, okay. And I’m not getting dick yet.”

He was kind of satisfied when he heard him snort in response. He turned to look back at him. “Does he like, know we dated when we were little kids?”

He frowned, feeling like his stomach dropped. He hadn’t technically told Jordan he still hung out with his ex-boyfriend, but he’d expected the part that it happened when they were kids would make it not matter to him.

Maybe it was best to be honest with Tweek, he just didn’t want to see his face when he heard someone dismissed their relationship so much.

“Well, he knows I had a boyfriend before him,” he shrugged. “He said it doesn’t count so it’s not like us hanging out would make him mad or anything.”

“He said it doesn’t count?”

“Yeah, ‘cause we were ten,” he shrugged.

He stared at him for a moment. “Do _you_ think that? That we meant nothing?”

He was giving him the kind of look that ten-year-old Craig would fix with a pet-name and a kiss on the cheek. Sixteen year old Craig only had his words.

“No, dude, come on,” he said, putting his palms out in a defensive stance. “It’s just what he thinks. It’s probably for the best anyway. I don’t want him to think anything of us hanging out, y’know?”

“So will you tell him when he comes to guys’ night?”

He snorted. “If I won’t, the guys will for sure find a way to let him know.” He shuffled in his place and pushed his hair back. “And for the record, you were a pretty good first boyfriend who definitely counted.”

“Back at ya, asshole.”


	4. Chapter 4

“You’re friend lives _here_?”

Jordan was gaping at Token’s house, his hands gripping the steering wheel to the point his knuckles turned white.

Craig couldn’t help but laugh. People were typically a little thrown off by how loaded Token was. He had gotten over it years ago, and so had everyone else at their school.

“Yep,” he shrugged and unbuckled his seatbelt. “C’mon, everyone’s waiting.”

He let himself into Token’s house like every week, and lead Jordan to the big living room in Token’s house. He could already smell the popcorn before he got there.

“About time,” Clyde said when he walked in. The guys were already spread out in their usual places, Jimmy in the armchair with his crutches next to him, Token in the big comfy beanbag, Clyde on one end of the couch, and Tweek on the other to leave room for him.

Well, it would usually leave room for him but there was only room for one person, so Jordan might have to squeeze somewhere else since the floor was the only other option.

“Nice to see you too dick,” Craig rolled his eyes at him.

He got introductions out of the way quickly, and there was the typical enthusiasm. Clyde made a tease, Jimmy cracked a joke, Token was casual, and Tweek was quiet.

He’d told Jordan Tweek was the elementary school ex ahead of time. Just in case anyone did make a quip or joke or something about their relationship. He seemed to just shrug it off, teased him for still seeing it as anything legitimate, and seemed thankful the night would include another gay person.

“So, what’re we watching?” Jordan asked, turning to look at the TV.

Tweek shuffled in his spot. “It’s Craig’s turn to choose,” he said, eyeing Jordan. His look seemed mostly curious, like he was watching his and Jordan’s every move. He hadn’t occurred to him if this would be weird for him. Guys’ night was typically reserved for just the five of them. Or more so, no girls were allowed. Bringing Jordan was kind of a loophole, not a loophole like it was when he and Tweek dated. Tweek and him were already friends, and the only real change after they started dating was sitting together more and holding hands. Sometimes low key affectionate touches too. Tweek had hated massive PDA, but he liked the smaller sort of stuff. Craig did too. Or had. They weren’t together anymore. And his boyfriend was right next to him.

And he still hadn’t said what movie he wanted to watch.

“I haven’t made my mind up,” Craig shrugged and sat between Clyde and Tweek.

“Can I suggest a slasher film?” Jordan said, sitting on the floor against his legs.

Craig saw Tweek flinch from the corner of his eye. “Nah, Tweek hates them.”

“Anxiety is a bitch,” Tweek shrugged. “I ruin all the fun.”

“No you don’t,” he smiled at him. “I hate slashers anyway .”

“Would you just p-p-pick and fucking movie,” Jimmy said.

He turned his head to Tweek and smiled. “Love, Simon?”

He smiled back at him. They’d seen that movie together when it came out and talked about it for weeks afterwards. The rest of the guys hadn’t seen it, and it was probably the best night to watch since Jordan was there too. And the guys had made him and Tweek watch too many heinously heterosexual movies.

“That’s gay,” Tweek said, affectionate as ever.

He poked his tongue out at him. “You’re gay.”

Jordan turned and gave him a curious look. “Do you two always do that?”

Before he could even answer, Clyde, Token, and Jimmy gave a unison, “yes.”

“Old joke,” Craig shrugged and ruffled his hair. Jordan batted his hand away and smoothed down his hair. He really had to remind himself that Jordan hated that.

“Love, Simon it is I guess,” Token said and picked up his remote.

Tweek sat up. “Token, can I use the coffee maker?”

“Sure dude.”

“Anyone else want one?”

Everyone called out their order and Tweek looked down at Jordan expectantly. “Want one?”

“Nah, I hate coffee.”

He blinked at him. “Uh, okay.” And he turned and walked into the kitchen. Craig stared at where he’d once stood for a few moments before turning back to Jordan.

Watching the movie consisted a lot of the guys trying to guess who Blue was – Clyde was deadset on it being the Waffle House guy, Jimmy had somehow decided it was Garrett, and Token jumped to Cal – and it was a nice viewing experience. So was him and Tweek yelling out ‘gay’ whenever they felt was appropriate. Jordan was mostly quiet, mostly eating the Mini M&Ms Token had laid out.

The movie ended close to ten, and Jordan said it was close to his curfew and he had to leave.

“I’ll drive you home, babe,” Jordan told him when he got his jacket on.

At any other time, Craig would’ve said ‘no’. Guys’ night ended at eleven. But the ‘no’ wasn’t coming out, and he could already feel the guys judging him.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll see you guys later.”

He would definitely have to make that up to them soon.

 

* * *

Craig picked his fucking – not even that cute – boyfriend over hanging out with them. He actually became that fucking guy.

Tweek ranted about it for almost the entire time after Craig and Jordan left. He knew the guys weren’t listening but he needed to get his frustration out on someone.

“Dude, come on,” Clyde huffed while he was in the middle of complaining about how he left when he missed last week entirely. “It was just one hour.”

“And he chose a movie you liked too,” Token added, though he looked like he wanted to roll his eyes. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“But he really just up and left!” Tweek said. “He didn’t have to go home with him.”

Jimmy raised a brow at him. “Dude, come on, now you’re just being ri-ri-ri- stupid. He’s just whipped, that’s all.”

Maybe he was being ridiculous. Maybe he just had to get used to that fact that Craig was going to date other people. But he was so used to Craig choosing his friends first. Choosing _him_ first.

He missed the days when they would just look at hot guys on Grindr and laugh at their bios.

He didn’t even realise Clyde was staring at him. He met his eye and gave him an annoyed look. “What?”

“Do you still like him?”

He blinked at him, and narrowed his eyes. “Contrary to popular belief, gay people can be friends.”

“I know, but you two _did_ date. My question was whether that’s even changed.”

He rolled his eyes. He didn’t need to deal with their straight nonsense today. “No, I don’t. I’m just saying on principle, he shouldn’t ditch us just because he’s dating someone. I’d get mad if any of you guys chose a girl over us.”

Jimmy and Token exchanged a look that they didn’t even try to hide. “Guys, come on. We broke up years ago, I don’t still have feelings for him.” How hard was it for them to believe he was just annoyed his best friend was becoming one of those guys who ignored his friends? He was completely over Craig romantically, and had been for a long time. He just didn’t want to be left behind due to Craig got too busy.

It was so reasonable, he didn’t understand why so many people didn’t seem to be able to understand that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapters really short, things are going to heat up really soon though.

“So,” Craig asked Tweek, leaning against his locker. “What’d you think of Jordan?”

Tweek tensed, which Craig didn’t miss. He didn’t even really try to hide it. He pushed himself off his locker and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Dude?”

“He seemed nice,” Tweek said, kind of quickly, clutching his phone tighter in his hand.

He frowned. “Okay, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Dude, come on.”

His jaw clenched and he huffed. “Did you seriously ditch us after you missed guys’ night last week?”

He felt a pang in his stomach. He knew at the time leaving early wasn’t the best idea but he also didn’t want to make Jordan leave alone. It was the choice between being a shitty friend or a shitty boyfriend. Clyde, Token, and Jimmy all didn’t seem to care when he saw them in homeroom, but they weren’t like Tweek. Tweek cared a lot and he knew he would. He just hadn’t been sure whose storm he wanted to deal with.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I really am. But, y’know, he’s my boyfriend. I’m gonna sometimes make him a priority.”

He knew that was the wrong thing to say when Tweek shot him daggers. “Okay, let me rephrase,” he said quickly. “I just mean that yeah, I’m gonna wanna spend time with my boyfriend.”

“Whatever dude,” he sighed, running his hand through his hair. He didn’t miss him tug on a chunk.

“Tweek,” he placed his hand on his arm. They held eye contact for a few moments, and Tweek slowly lowered his hand.

“How about we hang out just the two of us? Watch whatever tv show you like.”

He blinked at him. “You sure?”

He nodded. “You’re still my favourite person, don’t worry.”

He smiled at him. “Good, I’m glad to hear that.”

He laughed and slung his arm over his shoulders. “C’mon, we better get to class before we’re late.”

 

* * *

 

Craig came to Tweek’s house like promised, and Tweek had already set up the living room for a marathon of The Good Place. He’d made popcorn, a lot of coffee, and stashed away some cupcakes he’d made for Tweek Bro’s. that morning.

Like he had since they were ten, Craig let himself into his house.

“I smell food!” he grinned and swiped up the bowl of popcorn.

“Hey,” he laughed as Craig sat next to him on the couch. “You’re not gonna hog it are you?”

He grinned. “Maybe.”

He stuck his tongue out at him. “Dick.”

He snorted and shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth. “You brought cupcakes too?” he grinned and picked one up.

“Yeah, I had to hide them from my parents,” he said as he took a bite. He smiled when frosting got all over his upper lip.

“You really should be a baker or something,” Craig said as he licked the frosting off.

“I wish,” he said. “I’m going to be stuck running the coffee place.” He knew he should be happy he had a secure job in front of him but he didn’t necessarily want to be trapped doing one thing his whole life. His entire life had been his parents getting him ready to take care of the place. When he was little it was sweeping and taste testing, now it was actually serving customers and making the coffee. He hadn’t thought about what else he could do since he knew he couldn’t do anything else. The most he’d done was learn piano but that was just a hobby so he could have some sort of outlet.

“Will you give me free coffee?”

“Maybe.”

Half way through their rewatch of the first episode, Craig had wrapped himself in a blanket and Tweek was already on his second cup of coffee. His back was against a big fluffy pillow he’d pulled from his room and they watched the TV in mostly silence. In the midst of it, Craig’s phone went off.

Tweek saw him glance down at his phone and pick it up. “Who is it?”

“Jordan,” he said. “Wants to hang out.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry,” he said as he typed on his phone. “Letting him know I’m busy.” He tossed his phone to the side. “There, I turned it off. No distractions.”

He smiled, and nuzzled against the pillow.

Nights where it was just the two of them together weren’t uncommon, but Tweek was starting to realise Craig having a boyfriend meant there was someone to take his attention away from him. Which he’d expect. Not that when they were dating Craig abandoned the rest of the guys but they had one on ones more. He had to learn to accept that it would be the same with this new guy.

He was going to enjoy having Craig to himself for as long as he could.

He kicked his feet onto the couch and stretched his legs so his feet were in Craig’s lap. He turned his head and smiled at him. “Comfortable?”

“Yep,” he grinned.

He smiled at him and his feet stayed in his lap for the rest of the night.


	6. Chapter 6

Probably no one was surprised when Token’s house became the go-to for senior parties. He was the richest kid at school and his parents were out of town a lot. 

They were barely into senior year, but everyone was on a high from it finally being their final year of high school. 

Tweek didn’t mind the parties. He didn’t love them but being friends with the host did give some privileges. Like being able to hide up upstair when his anxiety got too much. Even if he was alone the whole night. Token was typically fine with him or the rest of the guys raiding the fridge and falling asleep in his room. 

At previous parties when his anxiety would get too much, Craig would usually come up and keep him company until he was ready to go downstairs. He didn’t question why he’d be nervous to be around people he saw everyday. He didn’t question his anxiety at all really. 

But tonight he’d brought Jordan so people from school could meet him. Most of their classmates had seen him thanks to Instagram but there were people who always asked about meeting him, even though he lived in South Park too. Tweek didn’t get it honestly. 

He’d been up in Token’s room for two hours, experiencing the party through tweets, Instagram stories, and the three people who still used Snapchat. Mostly he’d been playing on Token’s Xbox which he’d let him use. 

He wasn’t sure if he’d even go downstairs, he found he preferred to stay upstairs. He didn’t mind being part of the party if he had friends to be around but tonight wasn’t like the others. Clyde, Token, and Jimmy attempting to hook up with girls wasn’t uncommon but that was why he and Craig were usually joined at the hip. But since Jordan was there that night, his only two options were being a third wheel or staying in Token’s room. 

Being Craig and Jordan’s third wheel had happened a few times. Craig would try and make him feel like he wasn’t, but Jordan would pull his attention away. He wasn’t putting blame onto Craig, Tweek had spent the last few months learning that this was normal when one of your friends was dating someone. 

The door to Token’s room opened, and he glanced from the TV screen to see Craig walk in. 

He smiled. “Hey, dude,” he said and sat up straighter from his slouched position. “Why aren’t you downstairs?”

“Came to check on you,” he said and sat next to him. “Thought you were lonely.”

“I’m fine, I like it up here.” He paused, staring at the TV for a few moments as he became very aware of Craig’s arm pressing against his. “Shouldn’t you be down with Jordan?”

He shrugged, like he hadn’t just asked him why he had left his boyfriend alone in a room full of people he didn’t know. “He’ll be fine, he makes friends easily. Besides, I get bored easily without you.”

“I thought you like boring,” he teased, nudging his arm. Craig gave him a grin back. 

“I prefer to be bored with you than without. Good company is a good cure for boredom.” 

He didn’t bother to ask him why Jordan wasn’t the one he’d say that too. 

“So is your anxiety okay?” Craig asked, turning to look at the TV. 

Craig’s habit of asking about his mental health was something Tweek always appreciated. He was the only person who really bothered to care about his mental health, who didn’t decide he was overreacting. Even Clyde, Token, and Jimmy were never sure what to do when he was in his really bad states. Not that Craig knew everything but he knew where to start. 

“I guess. I still don’t really want to go down. Not alone.”

“You’ve got me,” he said, nudging him with his elbow. “If you wanna at least. We can stay up here if you’d like.”

“I don’t want to keep you up here.” That was something else he’d always hated. He didn’t want Craig to sacrifice his own fun to waste time with him. Especially if his boyfriend was downstairs too. 

“It’s fine, really,” he said. 

And he did stay. Craig even texted Jordan to let him know where he was and that he was staying. Craig grabbed the second controller and they played one of the two player games Token had. He had more video games than the rest of the gang combined so it was easy to choose one. Although, they were both still team PS4, they just needed something decent to pass the time.

They were in the middle of their game as the door opened. It was probably one of the guys coming up to rest from the party or something. 

“Hey, babe,” came Jordan’s voice. 

Tweek almost jumped so high he fell onto the floor. He’d been sitting in a large beanbag he and Craig had fought over, which ended in them just sharing it since it was definitely big enough. It wasn’t a compromising position and he’d been in the same position with his straight friends. The beanbags were huge. They were pretty much made for two people. 

He just wasn’t sure if it would look that was to Jordan. 

“What’re you two up to?” Jordan asked, his eyes lingering on them. Tweek could feel that Craig had gone stiff next to him. Jordan looked calm but he might be seconds from blowing up. 

“Video games,” Craig said, an edge to his tone. 

“Right,” he said flatly. “Are you staying here tonight or am I driving you home?”

Craig pressed his lips into a straight line. “Hadn’t decided yet.”

His eyes flicked from Craig to Tweek. “Well, if you’re preoccupied, I’m going home.” 

“Babe, come on.” Craig pushed himself from the beanbag and walked towards him. “I’m just hanging out with my friend.”

“Why doesn’t he come downstairs instead of being locked up in here?” 

“He literally has anxiety!”

Tweek wanted to sink into the floor and get out of there. He didn’t want to be the cause of animosity between them, especially if it’s just petty jealousy. 

“Craig, go downstairs,” Tweek said. “I really am fine up here.”

“See, he’s good,” Jordan said. “Now can you please come back down? You’re the one who wanted be to come.”

Craig looked back at Tweek and frowned. He’d put him on the spot, which was the last thing Tweek had wanted to do. 

Why did it have to be so hard to be Craig’s friend when he had a boyfriend. It shouldn’t be this hard. 

“I’ll see you soon, dude,” Craig said, his voice catching in his throat. 

“You too.”

There was a moment of hesitance but he turned to Jordan, took his hand, and walked with him out of the room, closing the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I really including PS4 vs Xbox discourse? Yes, gays love PS4.


	7. Chapter 7

Thankfully, Jordan got over his anger over Craig ditching him for Tweek quickly. Craig wasn’t sure how long it’d last before he gets angry at him for it again.

Jordan didn’t necessarily not trust him around Tweek. He’d told him he’d wished his uptight private school had more queer kids he got along with. But Craig had noticed that he’d never gotten angry at him for hanging out with Clyde, Jimmy, or Token. Sure, he hung out with just Tweek a lot more than the others but he’d told Jordan plenty of times over the past year that he was hanging out alone with one of them. He didn’t want to accuse him of straight up jealousy, but it was weird he got angry at him for spending time with his one gay friend.

But he’d never brought it up. He didn’t want to start a fight for something so small and mostly meaningless. If he had a problem, he’d wait for him to bring it up himself. If he brought it up then a fight would definitely happen.

The thing was, things hadn’t changed for months. Craig would hang out with Tweek alone, and Jordan would clearly have a problem with it. Whether it was a trip to the movies, a night in, getting lunch. They were small things. He’d hoped Jordan had the capacity to trust him.

He’d been questioning that a lot for months. He hadn’t necessarily been hanging out with Tweek less, nor had he been touching him less. But he would feel guilty every time. He knew that he shouldn’t feel guilty, he and Tweek were touchy before they were even dating. Like the time everyone had that ‘metrosexual’ phase and he’d helped Tweek gel down his hair. Not that it stayed down but he remembered trying to brush it down and they laughed the whole time.

Tweek had also been a little weird. Ever since Craig and Jordan almost had a fight at Token’s house party in front of him, he’d never say anything about him hanging out with Jordan a little too much. Craig still didn’t understand why he was so angry about it. He was spending time with his friend. He felt guilty for hours about leaving him alone. Typically he’d either stay up with him or let him cling to him the whole night. He didn’t mind, he did like spending time with Tweek. He’d tried to make that as clear as possible. To both Tweek and to Jordan. He didn’t want to lose his friendship with him just because Jordan got a little petty.

His senior year became mostly hanging out with Jordan and his friends. None of his friends were from South Park, they all came across as kind of snobby rich kids. Maybe that’s the private school influence.

They were mostly okay. They were all straight and seemed horrified when he made some sort of gay joke. As if he wasn’t the gay one there too. He made an idle comment about something being gay, and instead of getting the usual shoot back that he was gay, one hole left empty from Tweek, one of said friends would tell him he shouldn’t say that. He made one quip about how straight people were annoying to Jordan, and he told him to not be so harsh on his friends. That was different from how he would affectionally call his own friends ‘heteros’. Another inside joke that started when he and Tweek had been dating.

He’d decided he didn’t like Jordan’s friends rather quickly. But he’d had Jordan meet his friends so he had to give him back just as much. It was the fair thing to do.

He wasn’t sure when he started to hang out with them more than his own friends though. Guys’ night had fizzled out and he no longer went, because it was the best day for everyone else to meet up. Since Jordan’s friends had weekend study groups. Then everyone else was busy with SAT prep. They didn’t even seem to care, he’d see them at school and not say anything about how little they saw each other outside of it.

Tweek had gotten more and more quiet over time. He didn’t ask about Jordan. He didn’t ask about much of anything really. Tweek wasn’t really a quiet person, he wasn’t sure what he could do to change things. Maybe that was just part of growing up.

It was closing in on the end of senior year, everyone was stressed over SATs and exams and studying was starting to take over socialising more and more. He was mostly stuck up in his room trying to make sense of chemistry and math and wondering if there was some deeper meaning to The Great Gatsby. And a lot of people who weren’t studying were working. That was something he was used to for Tweek but even Clyde and Token were working. Jimmy not so much since barely any place in town wanted to hire someone who was disabled but he kept his Jimmy-like optimism.

That Saturday was a day Tweek worked, and a day Jordan had devoted to studying. Craig had a lot of notes together and had been killing himself from all of his studying, so he decided to give himself a day off and visit Tweek at work.

Showing up at Tweek Bros. when Tweek was working was one of his favourite pass times. Even when he got an inevitable glare, Tweek was good company. Even if he was just watching him take orders or bus tables. He never got kicked out, Mr. and Mrs Tweak were clearly holding on for the day he and Tweek decided to get back together. Sometimes Craig remembered when they first found out Tweek was gay and used him for clout on social media. He liked to kind of forget about that since he knew it made Tweek really anxious. His parents really did suck a lot.

The familiar sound of a bell rang above his head as he entered the cafe, and he saw Tweek sweeping up the floor.

He smiled when he saw him, his hair was its usual messy state and he was wearing a dirty apron. The place itself wasn’t too busy, but lunch had ended a few hours ago. Tweek was wearing headphones, and he was gently bobbing his head. Tweek would always complain about his intensive shifts but he’d always use music to make himself feel better.

He stepped closer to him and tapped his arm, and Tweek had been so in his own head he jumped in shock and tore out his earphones as he turned to him. He blinked for a few moments as he stared at him and rolled his eyes.

“Hi,” Craig said.

“Came to harass me, I’m guessing?” he asked, tossing the broom handle into his other hand.

“I missed you.”

He frowned at him. “And what happened to studying?”

He shrugged. “Taking a break.”

He rolled his eyes but he still smiled. “I’ll get you a coffee on me, how about that?”

“You’re an angel, thank you.” He sat at one of the tables as Tweek went behind the counter. “Have you had your break?”

“No,” he said. “But I might as well waste it with you.”

Soon enough, Tweek brought two coffees in mugs and sat next to him. Craig picked up the one placed in front of him and took a sip of it. It was pretty shitty coffee but he wouldn’t say he liked coffee for the taste.

“We don’t hang out enough anymore,” Tweek said.

He nodded. “Yeah, schools been hell.”

He bit his lip and took a sip of his coffee. “How’s Jordan been?” His voice was weak, catching in his throat.

Jordan was never a topic between them. It was like he didn’t exist. It was easier to pretend he didn’t exist and not to feel hanging out with Tweek was some sort of betrayal.

“Good,” he shrugged, staring at his coffee. “We’re going to prom together. We’re going to go to each others.”

He smiled and nodded. “Cool,” he coughed out and took another sip of his coffee.

“Have you found a date?” he asked, shuffling in his spot.

He shook his head. “No. No guys to go with, and I’m not going to be a cliché and go with a girl.”

The funny thing was, when they were still together, Craig had thought they’d go to prom together. The kind of way you’d look at a young child and think they’re adorable and naïve. It was like how Tricia thought he and Tweek would get married when she was six.

He did wonder what would’ve happened if he didn’t have Jordan. The only two gay guys going to prom together was its own cliché, but he wasn’t sure if them being best friends cancelled that out.

The image of them going together flashed in his mind. It would be platonic, but the thought was still nice. They’d been close for so long now that if there was no other option, going to prom together wouldn’t been the worst thing in the world. If he didn’t have Jordan, it would be a good option.

“Sucks, dude,” he said. “Going alone isn’t too bad.”

He shrugged. “I guess. Worse things in the world. I think Clyde was able to convince some girls to go with him, Token, and Jimmy.”

He smiled and let out a laugh. “He’s also determined to lose his virginity on prom night.”

He snorted. “God, don’t make me think about Clyde having sex,” he scrunched his nose.

“What? He’s not your type?” he teased with a grin.

He covered his ears. “Can we please not talk about out own friend’s attractiveness?”

He laughed and nodded. “Fair.” He’d never really wondered about his friends’ own attractiveness. Maybe for a moment when he was going through his own gay crisis, but he was mostly focussed on how he felt about Tweek and maybe, possibly he did have feelings for him.

God, he really didn’t miss the days before he knew he was gay.

“I’ll find a way to entertain myself I guess. If I don’t end up hiding in the bathroom.”

“If you need, you can cling to me all you like.”

He smiled. “As long as you promise to not get sick of me.”

“I could never.”


	8. Chapter 8

Prom was creeping up, and school was weighing on everyone more and more. Craig had started to make an effort to see is friends more than just at school. Despite them never getting pissy at him, they did seem at least a little relived he wasn’t spending most of his time with Jordan’s friends. He’d missed it, and he got to hear about the girls they were able to convince to go to prom with them. And as expected, Clyde was hoping he’d lose his virginity on the night.

The night plan was pretty simple: take a limo to the venue, party their asses off, then retire at a hotel.

It was planned perfectly in his head. He, Clyde, Jimmy, and Token all had their own rooms. Since he didn’t have a date, Tweek wasn’t going to spend the night at a hotel.

It seemed like everyone was hoping that prom night would be the night they had sex. Craig wasn’t sure where he stood on that. He and Jordan hadn’t had sex. They hadn’t really talked about it yet either. But they were going off to different colleges, and he did want to have sex with him. He wanted to have sex in general. He wasn’t sure if he and Jordan would survive a long distance relationship, and he didn’t want to go to college without any experience.

Craig had eventually found a way to balance his friendship and his relationship. Mostly, he got Tweek to come hang out with him with Jordan and his friends. He would be mostly quiet, but Craig tried giving him gentle pushes to open up more. Maybe to the point he focussed on Tweek a little more than Jordan but he didn’t focus on that.

Tweek had gotten good at hiding his anxiety, but Craig was good at seeing past it. Which was why he’d sometimes put his and on Tweek’s back when he could see he was starting to get distressed. Touch was Tweek’s clutch to calming down, and it was instinct at that point. He’d explained that to Jordan to avoid any jealousy, and he seemed to just shrug it off and not say much about it.

Jordan came over for their usual date nights for Sundays. They had started a routine of usually watching movies and cuddling on his bed, and ignoring Tricia’s juvenile comments.

Craig had already set up the blankets, and had made popcorn. They hadn’t decided what they’d watch yet, but he was trying to convince him to watch Brooklyn Nine Nine. He’d marathoned the whole series with Tweek, and he thought Jordan would like it too.

Jordan was a punctual person, so he got there on time. He’d never got into the habit of just walking in, despite being expected, so Craig would have to run to the door before his parents, or god forbid Tricia, let him in.

The first thing Craig noticed when Jordan got there was that he was weirdly quiet. He didn’t smile when he saw him, or even accept his hug. He just brushed past him and started to walk towards his room after giving a small “hi.”

Craig stood for a moment as he watched him go up the stairs. After a moment, he kicked the door closed and chased him upstairs.

Jordan didn’t snuggle into the blankets ready to cuddle in front of his laptop. He hadn’t even taken off his shoes. He stood in the middle of the room, and it was hard to really pin point the expression on his face. It wasn’t nerves, it was like he was finally letting something that he’d been holding in out. But it was something he was hesitant to say.

“I’m going to ask you this once,” Jordan said, his tone surprisingly steady. Before Craig could even get in a word to ask what he was talking about, Jordan said; “Do you have feelings for Tweek?”

The room fell dead silent. His tone hadn’t been accusatory, it was like he was trying to get a grasp on some truth that was being dangled in front of him.

But there wasn’t truth in it. The truth he wasn’t trying to find wasn’t there. He liked Tweek in the past, sure. But he didn’t see him that way anymore.

“No?” he said, frowning at him. “Why?”

He shook his head. “Don’t lie to me, Craig.”

He stared at him, trying to see any traces of a joke. But he didn’t see one. Jordan thought he had feelings for Tweek, even after telling him more than once the relationship fuelled on feelings wasn’t real.

“Why the hell do you think that?” he asked instead. He wasn’t going to let himself get stupidly angry over this. It was an out of left field accusation, but one that didn’t hold up.

“You two are just, I don’t know; you’re close.”

“He’s my best friend!” he argued. He could just as easily accuse him of having feelings for Clyde. Aside from a few jokes between him and Tweek, he and Clyde were just as close.

“Look,” Jordan said in a steady tone. “Whatever fucking fourth grade feelings you had for him are clearly still there. I mean, you two seem so convinced that that was a real relationship when most people would look at that kind of relationship as a cute kid thing. But you seem so insistent it was something real. And I can’t see how it’s not because you still like him.”

Jabs at his relationship with Tweek, Jordan knew the sore spots and he loved going for them. “So fucking what that it means something for me? He is literally the reason I figured out I was gay.”

“Okay, but you two are still friends. That I don’t get.”

“We were friends before! And isn’t remaining friends after breaking up a good thing?”

“I don’t know,” he said flatly. “I really don’t. If remaining friends means you’ll touch him for no reason, in front of my friends no less, then I really don’t know.”

He was going to argue about how Tweek had anxiety and all he was doing was calming him down. He was going to insist it was platonic. He was going to attempt to explain he knew how to read him to the point there were no obvious signs for when he needed comfort.

But there was no point saying this all to Jordan. His mind was made up.

“So what? Is this your way of breaking up with me?”

He gave him a stone cold nod. “Yeah. I am. I can’t believe you when you say you don’t have feelings for him.”

He took a deep breath. “Then I won’t bother trying to get you to.” He felt like he should actually try and fight for this, to somehow reassure him he did like him and not Tweek. But he couldn’t make himself care. It didn’t feel like it was worth it.

After a few awkward moments, Jordan’s shoulders slumped and he left through the door. And for whatever reason, Craig felt no feelings of emptiness or a reason to chase after him.

If anything, it felt like a relief.

* * *

Going to school and meeting up with his friends where Craig didn’t think about Jordan every few seconds was kind of a relief.

Craig wouldn’t say it was happiness, he wasn’t so stone cold but he couldn’t say he was heartbroken. But it did have the sting of a breakup.

He also no longer had a date to prom, and he had a hotel room he had already paid for to himself, and no one to have sex with in it.

That was more disappointing than it was heartbreaking. Looks like he would have to wait until college to have sex with anyone. At least he didn’t do it first with someone who couldn’t trust him.

Clyde, Jimmy, and Token didn’t seem to notice something was wrong. He didn’t really want to tell them about the breakup right away. He wouldn’t say his friends disliked Jordan, they’d always tell Craig he should bring him along when they would all hang out. But when Jordan took up most of his time, those invitations decreased and maybe a sense of dislike came along with it. He couldn’t even blame them, he stopped going to guys’ night long before they all got too busy.

The thing was though, despite Clyde, Jimmy, and Token not noticing anything, Tweek was like him when it came to his anxiety. He’d gotten too good at reading him. He could notice him being mildly upset about the weather, so a breakup would be easy for him to see.

“Are you okay?” he asked by his locker at the end of the day, students already flushing out the door. “You seem off.”

He didn’t really like the idea of just declaring he got dumped, but his relationship with Jordan had already put strain on their friendship. So he gave him a small shrug. “Jordan broke up with me.” It weirdly came out really easily. He didn’t feel pain in his gut when he said it, he felt mostly relief, like there’d been a hand on his throat until he got the words out.

“Oh,” Tweek said, giving him a frown. “I’m sorry.”

He’d expected a ‘why’ but Tweek wasn’t a nosy person. And he was grateful for that because he wasn’t going to tell him that Jordan was almost certain he’d still had feelings for him.

“It’s fine,” he said. “It’s probably for the best. Although, I don’t have a prom date anymore, that’s way more upsetting,” he gave a forced laugh. He’d been ready to make jokes about private school proms and how they’re completely extra and take photos of gaudy decorations. But he wouldn’t say he was disappointed he was missing out on that.

“Guess you’ll have to put up with me more than expected then,” Tweek said and a smile had found its way onto his lips.

“Looking forward to it, dude,” he smiled back.

There was a beat and they were just staring at each other. There were still a few stragglers left in the hallway, but for the most part it felt like they were alone.

“Or,” Tweek said, his voice coming out a little weak. “We could always go together – as friends obviously.”

He blinked at him. He was reminded of his desire of a platonic prom date with Tweek, but for some reason he’d assumed Tweek wouldn’t be on the same page. He wouldn’t have even thought to bring it up.

“Isn’t going to prom with your best friend after a breakup a little cliché?” Was what he decided to ask instead.

A grin came onto his lips. “No, because we’re gay.”

He smiled and let out his first laugh in days. “Well, you are my gay best friend.” That made Tweek laugh. He and Tweek would’ve been glued together anyway, and people might’ve assumed they were on a date. This felt like it was just making it an offical date.

“Will you get me a corsage?” Craig asked.

“Maybe,” Tweek shrugged. “Will you let me sleep in your hotel room?”

“Sure, but falling asleep in the same bed as my best friend wasn’t really the plans I had for it.”

“Well sorry to disappoint, dude. Can we at least have matching bowties?”

“That’s so fucking gay.”

“ _You’re_ so fucking gay.”


	9. Chapter 9

Unsurprisingly, telling people they were going to prom together resulted in many people asking them if they were back together. Tweek got tired of repeating his ’no’ rather quickly. 

Clyde, Jimmy, and Token seemed to jump almost immediately to thinking they were back together. They didn’t even ask. Craig bursting their bubble in his monotone voice was definitely a disappointment to them.

Explaining it to their families wasn’t too fun either. They seemed to be mostly disappointed they weren’t back together, but also found it cute that they were going as friends. Craig had said his parents were actually happy he was going with him over Jordan. Although he wasn’t sure if that was because they liked him more than Jordan or something else. 

They didn’t get matching bowties, nor did Tweek get Craig a corsage. But they said yes when their parents asked to take pictures. They’d told them plenty of times they were just going as friends but it seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. They would definitely be disappointed when they weren’t a couple again after the night. 

They had their photos taken at Token’s place, and Craig barely recognised Token, Clyde, and Jimmy’s dates. They seemed nice, and they at least didn’t make typical straight girl comments about how cute he and Craig were. 

The venue was at a hotel in Denver, the same hotel they were staying at for the night. It was a kind of nice hotel, Tweek decided. It was pretty crowded and he could already see himself getting claustrophobic. Thankfully, Craig noticed and kept his hand on his lower back. It was a familiar comfort, one that would always make him feel a little better. It didn’t stop his jittering though, fucking ADD. But he was able to get some grip of his anxiety, and to remind himself he was only around classmates. 

He and Craig mostly stayed on the sidelines, his anxiety mixed with Craig hating dancing made it the obvious spot. Craig made a quip about how that made him the perfect date. Even if people were still asking if they were dating again, which probably made it less perfect. It made Tweek wonder what would be different if Craig and Tweek hadn’t broken up.

Tweek hadn’t asked about the breakup, it felt weird to think about being nosy like that. He was kind of curious, and when he overthought it, he got anxious that it had something to do with him. He could sense that Jordan might’ve not liked him, which was kind of why he started to distance himself from Craig. He didn’t want him to resent him for making his boyfriend jealous. Even when Craig invited him to hang out with him and Jordan’s friends, he did notice they stink eye he would get from Jordan, especially when he was a little too twitchy which caused Craig to naturally settle him down. He sometimes felt like a burden for that, even before Craig and Jordan were dating. He just became even more aware of it.

Craig didn’t seem to mind about anything. He helped him keep his anxiety in check, they talked about all the crazy shit Craig was going to do at college, especially with his new single status. Craig was planning to go and study astronomy, because he never stopped being obsessed with space and he thought it’d be cool to study. Tweek was still going to be stuck running Tweek Bros., which wouldn’t have been his first choice but he’d learnt to deal with it. He was mostly frustrated all of his friends were leaving Colorado and he was stuck in their crappy small town. They had all promised to remain friends but he knew it wasn’t that easy. The rest of the group would make new friends, date new people, and their small home town and the people in it would be the last thing they would think about it. 

That night though, he focussed on the night with his friends, classmates he’d gotten along with, and Craig. Nothing specifically anything about him, just him as a whole. 

Sometimes he thought it was a shame they’d gone back to friendship, but most of the time he’d remind himself that they’d probably have some serious fight that was bigger than hypothetical movies for their stupid superhero game. They didn’t even have to worry about more serious things drawing a wedge between them, like awkward and probably terrible sex. 

Although, that not existing reminded him he was probably not going to have sex ever. He wanted to so badly, and his hand only helped so much. And after years of heinously heterosexual sex ed, and the abstinence seminar where Craig raised his hand and asked the guest speaker if those same guidelines applied to queer people, he was ready to actually experience it for himself. 

He’d assumed Craig already had. He couldn’t think of a reason they hadn’t. They’d spent so much time together that Craig had forgotten about it and no longer saw a person’s first time as a big deal. He was probably set for college and past the cliche of having your first time after prom, only seeing it as another time to have sex. 

He wasn’t going to ask. It felt rude to. Craig wasn’t the type to brag a lot of the time, he didn’t go around shouting about their first kiss. Instead, when they were able to do it casually they did and their friends noticed, demanding to know when and where and how their first kiss was. But that was back when kisses on the mouth were really just chaste peck and pulling away with embarrassed red faces. If he wanted to bring it up, he probably would.

A few times an hour, Clyde, Jimmy or Token would try to pull them to dance floor, but they’d kept their distance. They wouldn’t force them, just call them boring or the behaviour typical before going back to their dates. 

Most people that night did bring a date, but not so many that people without one stood out. A lot of friendship groups stuck together. Stan seemed to have brought Wendy – so they weren’t the only ones on a date with a fourth grade relationship – and Bebe seemed to have gone with Kyle. He’d overheard Wendy practically begging her to go with him so they could stick together since Bebe didn’t have a date. He was surprised she didn’t really, since even his gay ass knew plenty of guys were into her. But by the look of it, she’d seemed to have agreed in the end. 

The thought that by September most people in that room would be out of the town felt weird. He’d known most of those people his entire life, and they’d just be gone. He couldn’t even imagine that. 

They did talk to their classmates a little. Butters and Kenny both came to talk for a bit, Kenny’s face not covered by his parka for once. Butters also seemed to think they were back together, and that time Tweek quickly broke his bubble. Knowing about his over enthusiasm, he’d jump to conclusions then tell everyone that they were dating again. He didn’t need that stress for the night. 

When they’d gone back to their dates, Craig had a smirk on his lips. “What?”

“Just thinking how people would react if we were actually back together,” he shrugged. “I think the town would throw a party.” 

His parents would probably organise it. “Well, not our fault heteros don’t think gays can be friends.”

He nodded. “I know, I’ve stopped expecting much for years.” 

They grinned at one another, and Tweek really began to realise how much he was going to miss him when he left for college. 

His head fell onto his shoulder and took a deep breath. 

“Uh, you okay, dude?” Craig asked, his voice coming off as amused but he could heard the layer of concern. 

“I’m gonna miss you while you’re off having college fun.”

He was silent for a moment and gently pat his back. “Hey, I’ll miss you too,” he said. Another moment passed and he pulled him into a proper hug. Like he didn’t care if people saw them and asked more questions about where their relationship stood. 

He’d realised he didn’t either. Not anymore. He hugged him back, propping his chin on his shoulder. “Don’t fall in love with some guy and forget about me.”

Craig let out a deep laugh and stepped away. “Promise you. I’ll text you all the time.” 

“Good, I’m the one stuck here. I don’t want to be left in the dust at the same time.” 

“If I’m forgetting about anyone it’s Stan and those assholes, don’t worry.”

He couldn’t help but bend over in laughter after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is a long one!


	10. Chapter 10

Clyde was a lot of things. A good friend, pretty overly sensitive, a little cocky, and way too damn nosy. 

Prom was officially over, and people were already retreating to their rooms. Which was Craig’s plan. He may not be having sex with Jordan but he was spending the night with his other ex-boyfriend who was an overall much more pleasant person. He and Tweek had slept in the same bed in the past. The last time had been at a sleepover at Token’s even though his parents told him explicitly not to. 

He’d stopped in the hallway, both of them still in their suits. Craig’s bowtie was hanging loose around his neck and Clyde suit jacket was over his arm. 

“I was meaning to ask,” Clyde said before Craig could retreat to his room.

He rolled his eyes at him. “What?”

“Do you need, like, a condom or anything?”

He glared at him. “Dude, fuck off,” he said flatly. Of course he’d just assume he was Tweek were going to have sex. He knew they were friends but Craig had the suspicion that he had some hope they would start dating again. Or maybe he saw the embrace they were in for two seconds, two seconds where he just wanted to comfort Tweek, and assumed it was something else. 

“Hey, I was checking,” he shrugged. “Just in case.” 

He needed to make a note to make as many queer friends as possible at college. 

“Whatever, I’m going to bed.” 

He turned away before he could say anything else and walked the short distance to his room. When he opened the door, Tweek was already laid on the double bed, and had changed out of his suit into an old Terrence and Philip t-shirt and pyjama bottoms with the Harbucks symbol on them. He turned from his phone and looked at him with a smile. 

“Hey, what kept you?” he asked. 

He shrugged off his suit jacket and tossed it on the bed. “Clyde was harassing me.”

He laughed in response and Craig ducked into the bathroom to get changed. They’d dropped of their suitcases when they got there, and he happily slipped on a t-shirt that had the NASA logo, with ‘gay’ in the place of ’NASA’ and pyjama bottoms with planets printed on them. 

“You still have that shirt?” Tweek asked with a laugh when he sat next to him. 

He smiled. “‘Course, it’s my favourite shirt.” Tweek had gotten him the shirt for his fifteenth birthday. Mostly as a joke but the shirt fit his personality too well to just get rid of. 

“Bullshit,” he shoved him with a smile.

He smiled back at him laid down on the bed. “You tired?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“Me neither.”

Tweek laid next to him. “Might as well stay up then.”

He smiled as him, noticing his hair was in its messy state. Messier than usual really. 

For all he had to say about not having feelings for him, he did always notice that Tweek was, well, pretty cute. Not that he’d ever thought he wasn’t. He wouldn’t have dated him if his third grade self hadn’t noticed it first. But being friends meant that it was something he really shouldn’t focus on.

It was weird because they’d never really told each other when they’d started to like each other. When they’d first started to date, they had an awkward conversation where they both admitted to the other they were gay, the first time either of them had said it aloud, and confessed their feelings for each other That was it. Nothing serious, nothing to why or addressing the initial anger. Just that what they were doing was real and they liked it. That they liked each other in a really gay way. That was already too much to handle when you’re ten and had spent a lot of time ignoring and repressing feelings. 

He turned onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “I know it’s going back a while,” he began. “But when did you realise you had liked me?”

“What?” Tweek asked, and he didn’t need to turn to him to know he was giving him a confused look. Their relationship was rarely a topic of discussion because admittedly, the idea of talking about it with Tweek did feel kind of awkward. They were meant to leave it in the past so their friendship could proceed as normal, bringing it up made him think about old feelings. Old feelings would lead to overthinking everything. Overthinking everything could easily lead to some domino effect where the end result was a ruined friendship. 

Neither of them wanted that and when they were still healing from their breakup it was best to avoid it altogether. But surely it’s been enough time where they could talk about it like adults, a relationship from when you were ten wasn’t meant to stick with you that much. That’s what they were told at least. It still meant a lot to both of them, while straight people could look at their elementary school relationships as a cute silly kid thing, Craig clung to theirs in the way he did because without Tweek, he’d probably still be in the closet to himself. He’d be trying to convince himself some girl or another was attractive to him. He was able to make remarks about how gross girls were for so long and ten years old was already cutting it close. 

Tweek was still staring at him, probably confused by the question. Maybe as to why he would ask it too. But now that his mind was on the question he really wanted to know the answer to it. “Like, okay, did you know that you’d liked me before the whole, I guess, incident. And like, when?”

He was silent and after a beat, he spoke. “Somewhere at the start of fourth grade,” he said. “I was in denial for a while. Having feelings for your guy friend? Yeah, nine year old me couldn’t think about that. Why?”

Who the hell knew really. “Just thinking,” was the response he settled on. “I think I’d liked you in third grade. Maybe sometime after the fight we were tricked into, thought it was cool we could somehow match each other.” That fight was also the spark of their friendship. Once the heat had cooled down, they’d talked it out and he’d invited Tweek to sit with him, Token, and Clyde at lunch and the rest was history. Soon enough, he couldn’t stop thinking about how cool and funny Tweek was, maybe even cute but his eight year old self ignored that part. 

“Wait, seriously?” 

Those words cutting into his thoughts made him look back at him, and Tweek was looking at him with furrowed brows. 

He nodded. “That’s the best I can pinpoint. It’s weird because I thought it’d just go away.”

“Is that why your first response was anger?” His voice was weak, like the memory put a bad taste in his mouth. Craig could always taste bile when he thought about how he’d treated him when everyone thought they were gay. Like anger and violence could make it go away. 

He didn’t at all miss those days. Even though he and Tweek were way passed it, knowing he’d rather punch Tweek than have anyone suspect he’d sometimes thought about cuddling him and holding his hand wasn’t something he’d liked remembering. 

“Not that I’m innocent,” Tweek quickly added. 

“We were confused kids, don’t worry. Clearly we’re way passed that.” And not just relationship wise. Their own gayness wasn’t something they even tried to hide, whether it be remaking how hot a celebrity was or whatever joke came to his mind the related to it. Being passed that was definitely a good place to be at. 

Tweek bit his lip nervously. “I guess I sometimes think about it. Like, I was angry because I wanted to do anything in my power to prove I wasn’t gay. It freaked me out, I guess… I don’t know, it’s hard to explain.”

It was hard to explain, but he knew everything Tweek was saying. He’d gone through the same thing, with a homophobic dad – at the time thankfully – sprinkled on top. He still sometimes thought about the talk he’d had with his dad and giving him the push to stop denying everything and to finally just be with Tweek the way a part of him had been desperate to for so long. He still sometimes thought about when he and Tweek held hands, and how natural it had all felt. The words “wow I’m so fucking gay” had burst out of his chest in a laugh of relief when they were outside his house, Tweek bursting into laughter and saying he was too. It had been like somewhere between his dad talking to him and telling him he’d support him and taking hold of Tweek’s hand, he completely stopped caring. He actually felt happy instead of the misery he’d felt from the second people thought, or really knew, he was gay and he’d pushed Tweek away. He was pushing away a friend and someone he had such strong feelings for he couldn’t explain it. 

“I get you,” he’d breathed out. “I went through it with you, remember?”

“Right,” he sighed. “I just sometimes wish it had been easier than it was. It’s not fair that our friends can ask out the girls they like without a second thought.”

His lips pulled into a smile. “You’re really complaining about straight people now?”

“I’ll always complain about straight people.”

He snorted, and rolled onto his back. “Well, now we’re passed that bullshit so we’re okay, okay?”

“Mhm,” he mumbled, and he saw him nuzzle into the sheets. “You at least got a whole ass boyfriend.”

“And Jordan too,” he said with a smile which made him snort. 

“Yeah, but this time you weren’t ten and could do more than close mouthed kisses, right?”

He turned back to him, rolling on his side. He didn’t use the word ‘sex’ but the implication was in his tone. 

“No,” he said. “Uh, I mean, making out yes but nothing other than that.”

Tweek blinked at him. “Oh, wait, really?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Never had the chance.”

They fell into a silence. Craig hated talking about physical stuff with people, he felt awkward. Clyde used to pester him with questions if he’d kissed any girls, which he was smart enough to not lie about since it would only lead to a string of lies, and then it morphed into questions of whether he and Tweek had kissed. They’d always made him uncomfortable. Even with Jordan, actually talking about when they’d have sex could get uncomfortable. He knew it’d get easier since it was only awkward because it was all new to him, but it was a speed bump he was struggling to get over. 

“Sorry,” Tweek said, breaking the silence. “I shouldn’t have asked that.”

“Don’t worry,” he assured him. “Actually, I’m kinda glad I never had sex with him. He proved himself to be a dickhead. I’d always wanted to be one of those people who could say my first time was with a guy I really cared about– like I can do with my first kiss since it was pure.”

“Very pure,” Tweek agreed with a small smile. “I’d hate to lose my virginity to some ass.” 

The thing was, so would he. With how things ended, and overall looking back on how crappy he could be, he would’ve hated to know he’d lost his virginity to him. He knew it was pretty hard to guarantee that but he wanted to avoid it as much as possible. 

“Me too,” he replied. It was the best he could supply. 

Tweek was staring at him. Not how he had been before. It was like he was studying him, his brows had drawn together and he seemed to be deep in thought about something. 

“What?”

The look wiped off his face immediately. “Oh, uh, nothing.” His voice went up a few octaves. That usually happened when he was nervous or lying, or both. 

“No, really, what?”

Tweek bit his lip and rolled onto his back. He stared at the ceiling and silence filled the room. He seemed anxious – at least, more anxious than usual. “What if, I don’t know, what if we had sex?” 

He didn’t look at him when he said it. His eyes were glued to the ceiling and he was twitching but that wasn’t what his focus was one. 

Sex. Tweek just suggested that they have sex. He wanted to be surprised Tweek would be bold enough to suggest something like that, but in all honesty, Tweek was a bold person. He’d known that for years. 

He just didn’t think he was that bold. They’d left feelings in sixth grade, because they had to be easy to drop. He’d told himself they were and he’d stuck to that narrative for years. 

That should mean no part of him should be wanting to jump at this opportunity. But he pushed that down, trying to focus on this logically. 

“What do you mean? Why?” he asked, and Tweek seemed to feel some relief that he’d responded. 

He sat up, rested his back against the wall and drew his knees to his chest. “Just that, we care about each other, we wouldn’t fuck each other over. My biggest fear is that I will lose my virginity to someone who won’t give a shit about me. And you were saying how Jordan ended up being a dick, so why don’t we just have our first time with each other?” 

The thing was, it made sense. It actually made so much damn sense. He could easily end up losing his virginity to someone how only cared about having sex and leave him in the dirt afterwards. He didn’t want to risk something like that. And he had someone right in front of him he trusted enough to not do that to him. Tweek was really the only person he fully trusted. And he seemed to trust him just as much.

But he didn’t dump all of that onto him. Instead, he said, “Uh, are you sure, Tweek?” 

He stiffened, his teeth sinking into his bottom lip. “It sounded like a good idea in my head,” he said and let out a sigh. “Never mind, it was stupid.” 

He sat up and pushed himself next to him. “No,” he said. “No, it wasn’t. Did you mean it?” 

He shrugged. “I don’t still like you, for the record,” he said. It wasn’t even gentle, because he knew that he wasn’t hurting any feelings here. “That was a long time ago. I just mean, why the hell not? It’s not like no one has ever had sex with a friend just because. Never mind.” He finished off with a grunt.

“I’m not saying no, Tweek,” he finally allowed himself to say. 

He finally looked at him, staring at him as if he was a second away from saying he was just bullshitting. But when Craig showed no signs of that, he frowned. 

“So, what? Should we have sex?”

“If you want to,” he shrugged. He didn’t know why he said that like he’d needed to double check. He kind of wanted to point out that Tweek hadn’t kissed anyone since him but he decided it was best not to. 

“I do,” Tweek said, this time coming out smoothly and not a single hitch in his voice. 

He nodded. “So, uh, what do we do?”

He blinked. “Don’t we need lube? Also, who’s gonna bottom?” 

Two important questions, the former he knew was a resounding ‘yes’, the latter of which could be worked out when it came to it. 

“There’s a pharmacy downstairs, I can buy lube,” he stood up, not even bothering to put on real clothes. Hopefully the cashier wasn’t a raging homophobe who would use his t-shirt as a clue for what he was using said lube for. 

“Okay,” he nodded. “Also, uh, who’s bottoming?”

As he pulled out his wallet, he looked at Tweek and said, “We’ll work it out when we get to it, okay?” 

Thankfully, he didn’t run into any classmates who were still downstairs, nor did he get a homophobic cashier. The cashier didn’t even seem to blink. But that was probably because it was prom night and too many teens were having sex that night. 

When he got back to the room, Tweek was in his same position on the bed. Knees dawn to his chest, and clearly full of nerves. He wasn’t full on shaking, but he twitched every few moments. 

“You good?” he asked, and sat next to him, tossing the plastic bag to the side. 

He nodded. “Yeah, just dawned on me what we were doing.”

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to.” 

“I want to, I do,” he said. “I think it’ll be fine when we actually start.” 

He bit his lip and nodded, crawling so he was in front of him. Tweek met his eye and they stared at each other for a few moments. Craig was waiting for any sign that it was okay to lean forward and kiss Tweek. He was waiting for him to calm down a little more so he could ask, but instead, Tweek’s hands found his t-shirt and he tugged him towards him and their lips, for the first time in six years, met in a kiss. 

The last time they had kissed was in sixth grade, and it was at their first middle school dance. It was in the corner of the gym, far away from anyone who could see them, and Tweek had giggled when he was tickled by the little bits of hair that had started to grow on Craig’s upper lip. 

Craig liked to think he’d gotten better at kissing since then. He and Jordan had made out a decent amount, and before that he hadn’t kissed with tongue. Kisses with Tweek had been almost always closed mouth pecks since they were too shy to do anything else. 

Kissing Tweek now was different. Different from kissing Jordan and very different from when he’d kissed him last at eleven. Instead of a shy peck, their lips moved together, a little awkwardly admittedly. But there was a comforting feeling of familiarity. He still tasted how he’d remembered, the smallest hint of coffee being the most familiar thing. But there were small differences, like how he’d grown his own bits of facial hair that pressed against his own. 

It felt good. Maybe a little too good. Warmth had settled into his stomach, even more so when Tweek laid on his back and he was on top of him. His entire body felt hot, and no part in him wanted to stop. 

The sex itself was as messy as it was unplanned. It was a lot of mistakes – “teeth, Tweek” – and tastes and smells and a lot of feelings Craig hadn’t expected. 

It was, well, weird being this close to a person. It wasn’t like making out with someone. This was a whole new level of vulnerability. It was exposing yourself to someone for the first time in a new way. 

It brought him back to sex ed and some guy came in and taught them about how girls will be obsessive if you had sex with them or something like that. He and Tweek had always been in the back, mostly because they knew a lot of the information wouldn’t apply to them, and would laugh at whatever shit the guest speaker would say. 

They’d always vent to each other how wholly unhelpful the so called ‘education’ was, so he typically made himself feel better with calling out comments the made the guest speaker uncomfortable. Especially after the time they were learning how to put condoms on and used bananas, and the guest speaker made a quip about how they wouldn’t be doing it from the angle. Craig couldn’t stop himself from asking what if you weren’t the one wearing the condom. 

All they really had to go off of was porn, and a quick google search before they even attempted going all the way. It was a learning process for the both of them, but by the time they were finished and drifting to sleep, he realised he was happy he had done it with Tweek first. 

Definitely better than it would’ve been with Jordan. Or risking it with someone he didn’t know as well. In the midst of their mistakes, they were able to easily laugh it off, and now easily fall asleep next to each other. It was weird how easily they could slip into each other. Six years and he could easily fall asleep next to him, it was like those times on guys’ night when Tweek would sometimes falls asleep on his shoulder. 

He was going to miss the hell out of him at college.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't ask how this chapter got so long...
> 
> Also, oh my! What could happen next!


	11. Chapter 11

The summer felt like it flew by. Tweek felt pretty isolated through most of it. His parents gave him more responsibilities at Tweek Bros., now that he wasn’t ‘distracted’ by school. It sucked, mostly because he saw his friends less and less. Token had gotten into Princeton, so he was preparing to move far away, Jimmy had gotten in some performing arts school far away from Colorado, Clyde was just going to DU but was living on campus.

And Craig had was going all the way to Florida. Fucking Florida. He didn’t understand how he could not only move to a whole new climate, but so far away. He did the math, he would be almost two thousand miles away.

He’d been working to make peace with it but it was a little difficult. He kept remembering how he wasn’t gone forever and could texting was easy. He was just scared he’d lose him as a friend. He didn’t really have a proper friend group until Craig asked him to hang out with his friends since he was so impressed with how he put up a fight. And the two seconds he’d been apart of Stan and those assholes. He wasn’t sure who he would spend his time with once September hit. He’d probably be working if anything, and have no sense of a social life. He’d probably spend all the times he wasn’t working texting Craig as much as he could, because at this point he definitely knew nothing he could do would make Craig sick of him. Because somehow the suggestion of sex alone didn’t push him away.

He still wasn’t sure what compelled him to suggest they should have sex. After seeing how things had ended so badly between Craig and Jordan, and how if it hadn’t Craig would’ve lost his virginity to him, he didn’t want to end up in the same situation. Hell, he didn’t even really want Craig to end up in the same situation. It kind of made sense to have sex, almost at least. They hadn’t told their friends, because frankly it wasn’t their business. Although he did think they suspected something had happened.

Their parents hadn’t said anything either a least. His own didn’t even know they’d slept in the same bed, he’d just lied and said the room had twin beds. The last thing he needed was to have a sex talk with his parents. Much less about sex with another dude.

They hadn’t talked about it, it was just left as a thing that had happened. There were no romantic feelings, it was as platonic as their date. It hadn’t changed anything between them. The most said about it after the fact was Craig asking if they could say they’d technically slept with an ex, which he was able to get a laugh out of.

Other than that, and the realisation that they had definitely done it the morning after, they went on like they had before. Hanging out when they could, usually the rest of their friends were part of that group. But he and Craig still had there some moments of hanging out alone. No weird rift had been caused, and it wasn’t like it was something in the room was something they were ignoring. It was just left as a thing that had happened.

Kind of like the fact they’d dated for almost two years.

Token ended up throwing one more party before everyone left for college. It was open invitation, so any assholes could show up but it was a night he could call the last night with people he grew up with. Adults seemed to think that prom was the last night with those people but people preferred the places with alcohol and good music.

Unlike when Craig had been dating Jordan, Tweek ended up staying downstairs for the night, pretty much glued to Craig. He didn’t say a word about it, probably because this really was the last night they’d hang out in a long time. If it ever happens again. Craig was probably one of the few people who will leave the down. Getting out of your shitty small town was its own cliche but there was a reason people left. People who could leave got out and never looked back.

He wished he could be one of those people but the stupid coffee place anchored him down. Maybe one day he’ll figure out how to get out. He had plenty of time in his life left. But it felt like he was losing hold too quickly. He would probably end up like his dad. Stuck in the same town, left to take care of what he’d left behind. Then force it on his own kids; if he found someone who’d marry him at least. Not the future he necessarily wanted but it seemed to be the one he’d get.

It did make him wonder how everyone else felt, what leaving South Park, even Colorado, was like. It kind of encouraged him to actually try and socialise with people that night. Craig seemed pretty surprised when he ended up playing Beirut with him against Stan and Kenny. They didn’t win, since admittedly Stan and Kenny had a higher alcohol tolerance than him and Craig combined, as shown when they not only lost but puked all over Token’s patio.

“Beer’s gross, anyway,” Craig said once they’d both recovered, wiping it mouth with the back of his hand.

Tweek nodded. “I’ll stick to coffee.”

“You fags should’ve just stuck to cock…tails,” Cartman called across the yard, a smug smile on his face.

Craig had to catch him by his shirt before he charged right to him and socked him right in the jaw.

* * *

Token was thankfully the type of person who let friends crash at his place after drinking. Craig didn’t trust himself to drive home when he’d puked for about five minutes. His dad would kill him if he crashed his car.

The only real option for him to sleep on was the massive beanbag in Token’s room, that he typically shared with Tweek. After he stopped him from punching Cartman – though he really wanted him to – he’d decided to just trudge to Token’s room and sleep since he felt too sick to do much of anything else. Craig stayed down a little longer but he’d eventually made his way to Token’s room and collapsed next to a fast asleep Tweek, his body rolling next to his so they were almost cuddling, but not quite.

The night was a pretty bittersweet one. In part it was a celebration, finally most of them were going off to college and they could do whatever they wanted. But it also meant he couldn’t see his friends everyday like he’d had for eighteen years. Especially Tweek. He’d spent all his teen years being his go to when his anxiety got really bad. He’d made sure to let him know he could text him when needed. He knew at times Tweek was scared of being a burden but he’d always made sure to let him know that he wasn’t close to that.

Maybe it was his drunken state or that the room was so quiet, but the sound of footsteps gave a muffled echo into the room. He slightly grimaced, nuzzling more into the beanbag, his nose brushing against Tweek’s cheek.

The door opened and he’d heard two sets of footsteps and the familiar sound of Jimmy’s crutches. His best guess was the rest of the guys were turning in for the night too. The music had been off for a while now, and Token never let his parties went past three am.

“Are they asleep?” Clyde’s voice came as the door closed.

“I think,” Token said. “They’re drunk as shit. So keep your voices down.”

Typically, he would’ve made a noise to let them know he’s still awake, but his body felt too heavy to even make a sound. He just wanted to fall asleep.

“God,” came Jimmy’s voice. “I d-d-don’t get how th-th-they do shit like that and s-s-still claim they don’t still like each other.”

Okay, forget sleep. That comment had caught his attention. What the hell were they talking about?

A snort came from Clyde. “They went to prom together, y’know, ‘as friends’.” The air quotes round ‘friends’ was too obvious. It kind of sounded like they’d had that conversation before. Like it was tired at that point. “I think they can easily justify cuddling like that.”

Technically they were cuddling. But it wasn’t like they were full on holding each other. Their arms were pressing against each other and Craig had kind of rolled naturally so his chin kind of pressed against his shoulder.

But it wasn’t really cuddling. He didn’t understand why they were reading it as such.

“Didn’t they cuddle before they even dated?” Token asked.

“Yup,” Jimmy said. “That’s wuh-wuh-why I wasn’t surprised they were g-g-gay that whole time.”

He’d kind of forgotten they had done that. Fourth grade kind of blurred together, and it was hard to really remember when it was before they were dating and when they were dating. Maybe that was why it was so easy to slip into dating.

But that was so many years ago. Now Tweek wasn’t his boyfriend, he could so easily still care about him as his best friend.

“I wasn’t either,” Clyde said. “Making fun of them for it was sure fun though.”

That was kind of an exaggeration. Clyde made fun of them in a loving sort of way but maybe he had enjoyed it a little too much. Craig remembered the first time he and Tweek held hands at school and how surprised everyone was. Clyde calmed down anxieties the both of them had by affectionately calling them both ‘super gay’ before they’d gone class. It was kind of nice since the rest of the guys in their class were completely confused before they got used to it. He and Tweek were able to laugh about it now but at the time they had to deal with some guys constantly questioning their sanity for liking another guy.

They’d seemed to have moved onto a different topic, Clyde and Jimmy’s cots squeaked under their weight as they went to bed too. He decided to focus on sleeping, shutting out their conversation and trying his best to forget about their previous.


	12. Chapter 12

The day Craig left South Park was definitely more emotional than expected. Tricia had spent months begging for his room, but once it was all packed up she hugged him and told him she’d miss him with tears in her eyes, and making him promise she’d text him. He’d hugged her back, and that was when it really settled on him that he wouldn’t have her around anymore. Not that he’d tell her that.

Token had left pretty early for New Jersey and Jimmy’s parents wanted to drive him to California to avoid any plane troubles, which left Tweek and Clyde as the only people to say bye to on the day he caught his plane to Florida. All of his things were packed into his dad’s car and Clyde and Tweek had came over to say their goodbyes, like the three of them had done with Jimmy and Token.

He’d hugged the both of them, Tweek maybe a little longer and a little tighter than Clyde, which definitely got a look from his dad when he pulled away. He’d promised him multiple times that he’d text him everyday, and Clyde had cut in asking if he’d do the same for him. Craig only gave him a teasing ‘maybe’.

When his dad’s car pulled out of the driveway, he stared at the rearview mirror which gave him the perfect view of Clyde and Tweek. Clyde was waving with a grin on his face and Tweek seemed to be stuck in his spot, just staring at the car as it drove off. Knots formed in his stomach, as it finally hit him he was leaving his whole life behind.

“You excited?” his dad asked, and Craig could see a smile in the corner of his eye.

He nodded. “Yeah, I guess.” It was the most he could say. It was weird to think he’d been around so many new people. He even ended up getting a suite as a dorm, sharing with three other guys. They’d already made contact through email and had been talking. Mostly they just exchanged Instagrams. He’d spent months figuring out how even if he should come out to his roommates but it was good to know they’d find out through the rainbow flags that made it into every few posts. It hadn’t been drawn attention to but hopefully they’d found out on their own.

Now he just had to hope none of them were homophobic. That was something that could be dealt with later.

“So,” his dad went on. “You gonna miss your friends?”

He turned to him and blinked. “Uh, yeah?” Of course he would. It was a given that he would.

“And Tweek?”

Oh for god’s sake. “Yes dad, he’s my friend too.”

Ever since he and Tweek went to prom together, his parents seemed to be holding onto hope that they’d get back together. It was kind of embarrassing when they were leaving and his parents had hopeful grins on their faces. When he got home the next morning, they looked at him like they’d expected him to say they’d eloped or something.

As embarrassing as they could be, he knew he got pretty lucky. His mom never had a problem with it, and his dad was pretty much the reason he was able to have the courage to hold Tweek’s hand in public. But he could do without his parents just expecting him and Tweek to get back together. It was exhausting at this point.

“Just asking,” his dad replied casually, but there was a hint of suggestion in his tone.

He sighed. “Dad, I told you, me and Tweek are _friends_.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Yeah, there was no point arguing. He really just pinned it on his parents seeing how happy Tweek had made him when he was a kid and that would translate into happiness in an adult relationship. He and Jordan fought a lot, sometimes in his parents’ house, and the moping around that would always follow wasn’t favourable compared to generally being happy with Tweek. But Craig knew adult relationships came with adult fights. He and Tweek didn’t have much to fight about because there wasn’t much of anything that would cause real issues.

His focus when it came to guys at college was to just find some easy relationships. He didn’t see himself meeting his future husband at college, he wasn’t that optimistic. But he knew there’d definitely be more queer guys at college than in South Park.

Mostly, he just wanted queer friends. His wasn’t one of the lucky people whose childhood friends all happened to end up being queer, like some other people’s stories he’d seen online. But he’d also heard plenty of stories of people making queer friends in college, so he was going to focus on that highlight.

When his dad dropped him off at the airport and he was stuck waiting in the terminal, Craig checked his phone, fully expecting to see a text from Tweek. Anything small like saying he’d hoped he’d have a safe flight, but Tweek generally had a fear of flying so he’d really expected an all caps message about how he hoped he wouldn’t die.

But when he checked he didn’t have any notifications. He just saw his lock screen which was a picture of him and Tweek at prom he’d taken. His arm was over his shoulders and he was flipping off the camera while Tweek scrunched his nose.

He stared at it for a few moments, and before he set off to wait for his flight he opened up his messages and typed out to text Tweek, ‘I’ll miss you’.

His thumb hovered over send, debating whether or not that was even a good idea. He didn’t want to imply anything to him, but he didn’t want Tweek to think he didn’t care about him. He wasn’t going to see him again until Christmas, so he was going to miss him. That wasn’t a halfhearted statement. But if Tweek hadn’t messaged him, was there really a point to? Tweek could be an over texter, especially when they’d been dating.

He bit his lip and deleted the message, stuffing his phone into his pocket and leaned back in his seat in the terminal. He decided to just text him when he’d landed in Florida.

* * *

Clyde wasn’t leaving for college for a couple more days, and that pretty much made him Tweek’s last friend for a few days. They mostly stayed in a played video games or watched movies. They had similar tastes so they never argued over what they should watch. Clyde even happily watched Fourth Man Out since it was, as Craig would describe, the perfect blend of a straight dude movie and a gay movie.

Clyde didn’t just want to stay in, and Tweek had to give him a very unimpressed look when he suggested that they go to Hooters, ‘for the food’. That was probably the biggest conflict they’d had the whole time.

All they had was a week, and Clyde had been mostly busy with packing his things away anyway. Although, he ended up having to go to his house to calm him down when he started crying because his mom wasn’t there to see him off in the next few days.

He didn’t mind coming to comfort him, and Clyde was a crier anyway. No one would be surprised he was crying in his room. But it was kind of stressful to comfort someone like that.

That made him wonder how much of a nuisance he’d been on everyone else in his life with his severe anxiety. Mostly Craig at least. Aside from his parents, Craig was the only person who really saw his anxiety and how bad it could get. Even though Craig had told him a million times he didn’t see him as a burden and Tweek sometimes believe it, actually texting him when he’d needed it proved to be difficult. He was going off to college, the last thing he’d want to hear is anxieties about his flight.

He knew theoretically that Craig was his friend and him texting him wouldn’t be an actual issue. But his anxiety alway twisted things and made him think he secretly hated him. Which ended in him not texting Craig until he’d texted him first. He’d always get concerned when Craig didn’t text him back immediately, then send about fifteen more message in under a minute. Then he’d freak out about over texting. It was a cycle all because his anxiety was a bitch.

He’d had text him when he knew Craig was on the plane, since he knew the reason he wasn’t answering was because he hadn’t seen the message and not because he was deliberately ignoring him. When he did reply to him it was him telling him he was happy to hear from him. Tweek focussed on that and tried to not let his anxiety convince him otherwise. Key word being ‘tried’. But Craig had promised to Skype him when he had settled in.

It didn’t take long at all to miss the hell out of him. He’d thought it’d take at least a week but when he saw Mr. Tucker’s car driving away, he realised how easily and quickly he was gone and would be gone until Christmas. He’d been hoping he’d come back for Thanksgiving but it was too far and there was no point, which he understood. He’d have to remember to hug him when he saw him again.


	13. Chapter 13

Operation Make Queer Friends was apparently not as easy as Craig initially thought. Making friends in itself was difficult enough and figuring out if they were not only queer but if they had the kind of personalities that meshed well together proved to be difficult. He did stop by the queer resource centre at the campus but it was mostly empty and his monotone personality probably came across as jarring to the three people who were there.

His roommates were mostly okay. Their suite included two bedrooms, a sitting area that looked like a pathetic excuse for a living room, and a tiny kitchen. It was a little better than sharing one dorm room with a stranger at least. Maybe it was four strangers but at least he could stay in his room or the living area whenever he got too tired of being around them.

He shared his room with a guy named Aaron, and their two other roommates were Alejandro and Ricardo. For the most part everyone kept to themselves but there was an effort to get along, seeming how they’d be living together all year.

As for the subject of him being gay, it hadn’t been brought up. But with the mutual follows on Instagram, he’d hoped they did. Especially after Ricardo said to all of them that if they bring a person, and he looked right at him when he said ‘person’, to have the decency to text ahead of time so no one was in their bedroom at the time. So clearly they weren’t oblivious to rainbow flags.

The group chat he had with Clyde, Tweek, Jimmy, and Token was still going. They’d made it back in fourth grade and with the new distance it’d been more active than ever. Clyde, Jimmy, and Token seemed to have been settling in well. Tweek had been mostly quiet, probably since he had the least to say. But they had talked one on one, which he kind of preferred with Tweek anyway.

They’d Skyped for a few times, like he’d promised they’d would. Seeing his face really made him realise how much he’d missed him, and he did kind of regret not letting him know that immediately. But the words slipped out the second he saw him on his computer screen. Aaron walked in part way through the call, stared at him for a moment, and got the book he needed before leaving. He did ask him later, albeit a little awkwardly, if it was his boyfriend he was talking to. He had to just laugh and say it was a friend, not a boyfriend. He didn’t need to hear his backstory of how they were exes or anything like that.

He didn’t think of asking him why he’d assumed it in the first place. He just pinned it to the typical straight person assumption that if he was talking to a guy, then it had to be his boyfriend. As long as any of them didn’t try to set him up with another queer guy on the basis of him being queer, that was the one thing he was able to escape in high school and would frankly, never like to deal with it.

Maybe he should try Tinder again and try to find at least someone to date, or even some friends if he didn’t find any in his classes.

* * *

Clyde had left for college and Tweek was officially on his own. Well, maybe not technically. There were a few people in his class that hadn’t gone to college either, namely Kenny. Not that he was someone he’d go out of his way to hang out with but there were worse people that could be left in the town. He was the only person he really considered any sort of a friend still in town, though he wasn’t sure if the feeling was mutual. He was decently nice to him when he rang up his groceries though.

Working at Tweek Bros. was pretty much the same, just without the welcomed interruption of Craig, Clyde, Jimmy, and Token. Mostly Craig. His parents weren’t too on his ass about constantly working. Especially if Craig was said person distracting him.

That day though, instead of barista work or mopping, he was doing taste tests. As much as he’d loved coffee, he didn’t necessarily enjoy this job. People would tell him they were envious of him and his seemingly endless supply of ‘free’ coffee. But no one liked the jittery feeling of drinking too much coffee.

Plus, his parents’ coffee kind of sucked.

He was scrolling through Instagram, going through each coffee. The obscure blends weren’t too bad but the weird seasoned flavours weren’t his favourites. Especially the ripoff of pumpkin spice lattes, which his dad had been trying to perfect since it was almost fall. It was mostly a mind numbing distraction, seeing friends and former classmates at college. It was kind of a habit of living vicariously through them, especially those who were going to school with their friends.

He thought of texting his friends, and all he’d really done were minor checkups. No deep conversations, just random shit and what the campuses were like. Classes had barely started so there wasn’t much to say. But everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves for the most part, and the new freeing nature that was college. Tweek didn’t have much to offer since barely anything had changed in his life, and he didn’t want to bore them with his unexciting life. There wasn’t a lot to say about being stuck in the same routine everyday.

“Tweek,” his dad opened the door to the back room. “I’ve got more coffee for you to taste.”

He held back a groan. He was almost through what there already was but his dad set down four to-go cups of coffee on the table he was sitting at. Each had their names scribbled on their cups in Sharpie.

“Dad,” he sighed, and twitched a little. Coffee seemed to always make his ticks worse. Or really, his parents coffee. He could live on instant coffee and would honestly rather to at this point. “Can’t I just mop the floor or something?”

“No,” his dad said. “We need someone to test these and your mom and I are the ones running the business.” He turned and closed the door behind him, leaving him along with about six and a half cups of coffee.

He grumbled, and in the midst of his annoyance, texted the group chat to get his frustration out.

Tweek: _Hi I hate my parents_

He got a reply from Clyde within seconds.

Clyde: _oh no what are they making you do now_

Tweek: _I’ve been taste testing coffee all day_

Craig: _sounds terrible_

Even in text, Craig’s sarcasm easily leaked through.

Tweek: _you know how shit my parents coffee is. Plus even if it’s coffee no one likes drinking too much of it. Even when you’re cramming for exams_

Craig: _touché_

His lips twitched into a smile as he looked at Craig’s reply. Somehow his dry, monotone voice could still come through text easily.

Jimmy: _have you only been working?_

Tweek: _I don’t have much time for anything else_

Jimmy: _you’re not gonna at least try and get some dick?_

Tweek: _suddenly I want to go back to working_

He locked his phone and tossed it on the table before anyone else could respond. His shoulders slumped as he finished another coffee. He wrote down the notes his dad wanted, and sighed against the chair he was sitting in.

He knew Jimmy was just being nice and encouraging him to just try and date. Maybe it was better than straight friends who tensed at the slight mention of him hypothetically hooking up with men. But that didn’t mean he liked people commenting on his romantic life. And especially not his sex life. There was a reason he and Craig hadn’t told them they’d had sex on prom night.

Well, multiple. But his hatred for talking about sex with people who weren’t at all involved was one of them. Craig didn’t seem to want to either, but he was more of a private person which was what probably contributed to it.

As he picked up another coffee, his phone started to buzz. He looked down at it as he took a sip and smiled when he saw it was Craig wanting to FaceTime. He answered it immediately, and was met with Craig grinning at him.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” Tweek said, taking a sip of the coffee. Absolutely disgusting was his conclusion. “Is the group chat a mess?”

He laughed. “Jimmy’s just nosy, you know that.”

He nodded. “I know.”

“He’s right though,” he continued. “You should try dating.”

“You know all I really have is dating apps, and I don’t want to die. Or meet a dickhead.” Craig nodded in understanding at the statement. “As far as people I know, I have, who? Kenny? And I don’t want to fuck Kenny.

“Yeah, and Kenny’s heinously heterosexual.”

“Yeah, but you’d probably fuck him.”

“What?” Craig asked and blinked at him.

“He’s blond, and you definitely have a thing for blonds.”

He scowled at him. “I do not.”

“Yeah you do. There was me, and then Jordan was a blond.”

“It was almost brown,” Craig argued.

“Plus,” Tweek went on, ignoring his interruption. “When we were nine you had a hard on for the kid with Tourettes, also a blond.”

“Okay, now you’re really bullshitting,” Craig said, and it actually kind of looked like he was blushing. “I did not like Thomas.”

He smirked at him. “Dude, yes you did. You really haven’t looked back at that and realise you had this big gay crush on him?”

He was silent for a moment, and Tweek almost laughed. He remembered how obsessed he’d become with Thomas due to his tick. Craig would still sometimes hang out with him when they were dating and while Tweek wasn’t necessarily jealous, it’d hit him that Craig had definitely had a crush on the kid. He’d never brought it up, he didn’t want to be the kind of boyfriend who accused his boyfriend of cheating because of nothing but paranoia. He’d just always assumed Craig knew about his crush, even before they’d started dating. Apparently not.

“Nah,” Craig said and shook his head. “Nine year old me liked you, not Thomas.”

He snorted. “Okay, sure,” he said. “Speaking of boys, any gentleman callers for you?”

He snorted. “No, I don’t know any queer dudes yet. I did go to the campuses queer centre but there were only girls in at the time.”

“Shame.”

He shrugged. “Well, Tinder’s already been a bust, but the centre’s having some function or some kind of get together so maybe I’ll have some luck there, or at least make some friends.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know how you were able to move to fucking Florida. You’re not even wearing your hat anymore.” He’d gotten so used to Craig constantly wearing his hat that he was surprised to see the mess of black hair.

“Yeah, it’s so hot down here,” he said. “Takes some getting used to.”

“The cold misses you.” It was his best way of saying the words “I miss you” which he wanted to. But he didn’t want that to come across as anything more than it was.

Craig seemed to have gotten what he meant though, and he smiled back at him. “I think I miss the cold too.”

That made him smile back at him. He’d needed to hear some version of that, and that was plenty good enough.

“You’re coming back for Christmas, right?”

He nodded. “Course, not gonna miss that. Tricia getting into any trouble without me around?”

He laughed. “Not as far as I know.”

“Okay, but let me know if she gets any boyfriends, I want to make sure she doesn’t get involved with any jerks.”

“Well, I’m sure she’s as boy crazy as her big brother.”

He snorted. “Not possible.”

He smiled down at his screen, and looked at the coffee he was meant to be drinking.

“I’d love to talk, but I do actually have to work. My dad’ll kill me to know I’m slacking off.” Not that his dad would be mad he was talking to specifically Craig. Or any boy he saw as romantic potential for him. He was starting to realise his dad didn’t so much want him to date Craig but to just have a boyfriend. Just so he could sneak pictures for social media.

Technically speaking Craig was the better option, because he was used to his parents’ antics. They’d probably scare off any guy he did bring home.

“Okay, I have reading to do anyway,” he said. “I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

He nodded. “Definitely.”


	14. Chapter 14

The queer centre’s event was held in one of the campus’s community halls. From what’d he’d read on the Facebook event, it was just a casual event. He’d thought about wearing the gay NASA shirt for luck, but he wasn’t sure if that was too forward. He’d mostly slept in it or wore it on lazy days. He’d worn it maybe once while he’d been at college, and only around his roommates. They hadn’t acted weird about it but Craig had created tension in his head and that had made him feel a little weird about wearing it. 

When he stepped in, he saw the place was decently sized with quite a few people already staring around. There was a table that had sticker sheets on it, and behind it were two girls. 

“Hey,” said one of the girls when he stepped forward. “You a newcomer?” 

He nodded and looked down at the stickers on the table, realising they were stickers with pronouns on them, ranging from “he/him” to “they/them”, to “xe/xer” and “any.” The girls in front of him both had “she/her” ones stuck to their shirts. 

“You don’t have to take one,” assured the second girl.

“Nah, I will,” he said, picking up one of the “he/him” ones and stuck it to his shirt. 

“Are you a freshman?” the first girl asked. 

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well there’s plenty of really nice people here, so they’ll make you feel welcome.”

He smiled. “Thanks,” he said and stepped into where there were more people. It was pretty obvious it wasn’t most people’s first time so they had an easier time going into their groups. He’d kind of regretted not showing up to the centre more to make friends sooner. He was so used to living in a small town where everyone knew each other that he’d realised he wasn’t sure how to make friends if they weren’t placed in front of him.

His worrying was short lived, because someone turned to him and smiled. 

“Hey, you new?” the guy asked. 

He felt his nerves relax and he stepped towards the group. “Yeah.” 

The group consisted of three guys, all dressed relatively casually. They all had their own stickers from the front table, all with “he/him” and none of them seemed to think twice about it. Craig pinned surprise to being from a tiny town. 

The guy who called him over introduced himself as Nathan. He was white and his hair was dyed purple. The two other guys were named Seth and Alex. They’d introduced themselves with smiles, and Craig kind of noticed that Alex was pretty cute. He had dark skin and dyed curly blond hair. That note made him remember Tweek’s comment about him liking blonds. This guy was obviously not even a real blond with the dark roots showing. 

He pushed that thought away and smiled at the guys. Apparently they were all Sophomores, and had met through the same event last year. 

“So what’s your major?” Nathan asked.

“Astronomy,” he said. 

“Always been an astrology gay myself,” Nathan said, and the others laughed. 

Craig smiled. “I can barely understand astrology, all I know is my sign.”

“You mean your sun sign?”

He blinked. “What other signs are there?”

Alex groaned. “Please don’t get him started,” he said. “He fully believes in it, and not as a meme.”

“Hey, it’s not that hard to believe that where the planets were when you were born had an affect on your personality,” Nathan replied. 

He and Alex started to go back and fourth, Nathan seeming ready to defend astrology to his death, and getting mostly eye rolls from Alex. 

His eyes sifted to Seth, realising he’d been quiet the while time. He was white too and instead of dyed hair, he was a freckly redhead. Or a ‘ginger’ as he remembered them being called in elementary school. 

Seth had a can of coke in his hand, and was looking at Alex and Nathan like they’d had the fight a million times.

“What’s your thoughts on this riveting topic?” Craig asked him. 

That got a smile. A kind of cute smile. Why were so many of the guys here cute? “Neutral,” he said. “I’m more open minded about these things I guess.”

“I know nothing about it really, I’m just going on astronomy.” 

“Well, come to me if you wanna learn more about it,” Nathan grinned. “You can google what your birth chart is.” 

He had no idea what a ‘birth chart’ was but he still nodded. “Uh, thanks for the suggestion.”

“Ignore him,” Alex said. “Astronomy sounds cool, were you into space as a kid?”

He smiled. “Yeah, I love it,” he said. “My best friend got me one of those gay NASA shirts for my fifteenth birthday.”

“Need me a friend like that,” Seth laughed. 

“I’ll buy you something gay for your birthday, babe, don’t worry,” Alex said, and his arm found its way over his shoulder. 

“He queer too?” Nathan asked, not even paying attention to the couple. It reminded Craig of how everyone acted around him and Tweek when they had gotten used to them dating. “Because I can’t imagine one of my childhood straight friends getting me a shirt like that.”

“Yeah, he was my only gay friend, small town and all.” He decided to leave out the fact they’d dated. He’d started to kind of hate telling people about it only for it to be shot down. Maybe it was best to save it for boyfriends, just in case it ever did come up on accident and said guy thought he’d been hiding it from him. 

“I’m from a small town too,” Nathan said. “Michigan, you?”

“Colorado. This shitty town not far from Denver.” 

“Ah, so you missed the whole ‘don’t fuck until marriage’ from the joys of the midwest?”

He shook his head. “Nah, we still got that to a degree. I think schools just love teaching it.”

“I think you both had better sex ed than what’s taught at inner-city schools,” Alex said. “Swear to god I learnt more from Twitter than anything at school.” 

“Mood,” Seth said. “I only knew how the hymen actually fucking worked because of that College Humour video. When I brought it up to my high school girlfriend she looked me in the eye and asked if it was sealed, how would she menstruate and shit. Then it flipped when I realised I was bi and had absolutely nothing to go off on having sex with guys.” 

Craig smiled. “I once pointed out the abstinence bullshit by saying what happens if you’re gay and can’t get married. Like how it was in Australia until, like, what? 2015?”

“2017, I think,” Nathan said. “But that’s ballsy, did you get kicked out of class or anything?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I think the guy just thought I was fucking around. But me and my friend I mentioned before would always sit in the back. Although, I think we got our punishment when we were still forced to put those female condom things on those fake vagina things.”

He laughed. “Well, at least you’re past that. College is about ten times better than high school.” 

He smiled and the conversation sifted into something new. This was easier than he thought it would be. This was the kind of interactions he’d needed after only having Tweek, and Jordan to an extent, as the only queer person he knew. 

He felt his phone buzz, and he slipped his phone out to see a text from Clyde. He knew immediately that he was drunk, as he was met with the words “hey do the stars have feelings”. After he rolled his eyes, he dismissed the message so his lock screen only showed the time and the picture of him and Tweek. It was the same picture of them at prom, since he didn’t have the heart to change it to something else. 

“Is that your boyfriend?” Alex asked, and Craig almost jumped when he’d realised he’d been staring at the picture of them. 

“Hm?” he asked, locking his phone and stuffing it into his pocket. 

“In the picture, that your boyfriend?”

He shook his head. “No, the friend I mentioned before,” he said. He kept control of his emotions, like he always did. He didn’t need to know that Tweek was technically an ex or anything like that. It was easier to just say he was his best friend. He doubted most people cared about his first relationship anyway.


	15. Chapter 15

Despite DU being a little bit of a decent trip to get to South Park from, Clyde still ended up making an effort to come back down almost every weekend. Usually it was to show off his pretty girl of the week on his arm, bragging to Kenny about the ‘mind-blowing sex’ they would have together, which always ended in Kenny telling him to fuck off.

Tweek found most of the girls nice for the most part, though there was the odd one that knew he was gay – definitely through Clyde – and would ramble about the newest season of Rupaul’s Drag Race, only to stop when she’d realise he’d been staring at her blankly the entire time. Even the girls that completely ignored him were better than the ones who tried to fit him into a stereotypical mould in hopes of gaining a ‘gay best friend’ or whatever straight girls were into.

This time in particular when Clyde came down to visit, he didn’t just bring a girl. He brought a guy too. And right into the coffee shop.

“Hey, how’s my favourite barista?” he smiled when he came into Tweek Bros., holding hands with a girl while the guy stood awkwardly to the girl’s side.

He held back a sigh. “The usual?” he asked. Clyde only ever drank black coffee, no sugar. Tweek was one not to judge, but he had a hard time finding people who drank black coffee who weren’t past the age of fifty.

“Yep,” he nodded as the girl scanned the menu.

“Do you do iced lattes?” she asked.

He nodded. “So that’s black coffee, iced latte, and?” He looked the guy who was still scanning the menu.

“Uh, is that peppermint nutmeg thing any good?” he asked.

To any other customer, he’d try and up sell it because that’s what his parents told him to do. But he decided to spare on of Clyde’s friends. “Between you and me, it’s absolutely disgusting.”

“Then I’ll just get a cappuccino, two sugars, and one of those red velvet cupcakes.”

He smiled. “Coming right up.”

After they paid, he got to work on the coffee, handing the guy his cupcake as he waited. Clyde went on a tangent on how they’d been friends since third grade and had been in the same friendship group. Half way through his tangent, he’d seemed to realise he hadn’t mentioned any of their names.

“So, yeah, Tweek and I go way back,” he smiled and turned back to him when tweek set two cardboard cups and a plastic cup and straw on the counter. “Chloe and I met through my roommates,” he said. “And Logan and her also grew up together.”

He nodded. Although that didn’t explain why Logan had come back with them. Maybe he was just a constant third wheel.

His question seemed to be answered quickly enough. “He wanted to see the town too.”

“What’s there to see?” he asked. “It’s just like every other redneck shithole.”

Logan’s lips twitched into a smile. “I always end up third wheeling.”

Tweek laughed. “Hopefully Clyde’s not too much of a pain in the ass.”

“I resent that statement,” Clyde frowned. “I’m not that big of a pain.”

“Yeah, you were worse when you were eight,” he shrugged.

He glared at him, though it was more playful than anything.

Logan laughed at their banter and took a bite of the cupcake. The cream cheese frosting got all over his upper lip. “Mm,” he said as he chewed and licked off the frosting. “This is great.”

Clyde grinned. “Tweek made it, didn’t you?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I’m okay at baking.” He left out the part he was good enough to _almost_ cause peace with North Korea, but they didn’t need to know that part.

“Well, I think you’re a great baker.”

He smiled. “Thanks.”

As Logan smiled back, Clyde said, “Well, I’m gonna show these two around town. When do you get off your shift?”

“Late.”

“Well, text me when you get off. We need to catch up.”

He didn’t bother to remind him they saw each other last week.

His eyes stayed on Logan for a few moments as he left with them. He was suddenly reminded about how the rest of his friends had been encouraging him to start dating. And as cute as Logan was, Tweek’s gaydar was pathetic and he was mostly left there hoping Logan was gay or bi rather than knowing for sure.

His shift carried on like it usually did. He served the same customers, swept when his mom asked him to, and taste tested coffee when exiled to the back. It was routine and boring, barely worth the less than minimum wage his parents gave him. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with the money, sometimes he bought himself something but he’d been saving since his parents actually started paying him. Although, before he was sixteen, working most afternoons seemed to earn him as much as an average child’s allowance for a weeks worth of work.

The door opened and out of all people, in walked one of the people he’d least like to deal with; Kenny.

He held back a sigh. Sure, he liked Kenny enough but Kenny was the kind of person who would only come to the coffee shop to bother him.

“Hey, Tweak,” he smirked, and Tweek could hear it was an attempt to call him by his last name. His first and last names being the same seemed to bother some guys. In the sense that they couldn’t just call him his last name to be casual. Unless it was somehow a tone like Kenny right now.

“Yeah, Kenny?” he asked. He still wasn’t used to Kenny not wearing the hood of his parka. He wore that thing until it was half way up his stomach and switched to a coat that didn’t have a hood. “Already off work?”

He nodded. “Yep, and I’d like a coffee.”

He looked at him suspiciously. “What kind?”

“Coffee’s coffee, right?” He had a smug look on his face as he said it, like he knew that would strike a nerve and make his job harder.

“Since when did you like coffee?”

“Butters let me have a sip of his,” he shrugged. “Want to try more.”

Butters typically got his coffee from Tweek Bros. and had the same order. Latte, three sugars. Easy enough.

“Okay, whatever,” he said and slid behind the counter to prepare the cup. “I thought Butters had gone to college.”

“Community college,” he corrected. “And not the kind that lets you live on campus.”

That made sense. Butters wasn’t the most academic person, even though he could be smart in his own way a lot of the time. But clearly not smart enough for traditional colleges.

“Haven’t seen him around, I guess,” he shrugged as he put the cap on the cup and handed it to him.

“I saw Clyde though,” he said. “And the girl he’d brought isn’t even that hot. Not worth the brag.”

If Kenny had gone to college, Tweek could easily see him as an obnoxious frat guy. Which added to why they didn’t really hang out. His own friends were frustrating enough without being as heinously heterosexual as Kenny could be.

“Although, did he bring you back a boyfriend?” Kenny went on, his lips stretching into a teasing smile.

“Shut up,” he said, glaring at him.

“Right, I forgot you and Craig got married in fourth grade.”

He rolled his eyes. He didn’t need to defend to Kenny of all people that he and Craig were friends. He knew they were, he just wanted a rise out of him.

“Y’know that Tricia and Karen are friends?” he asked, leaning against the counter.

He raised a brow at him. “They are?”

“Yeah, Karen goes to Craig’s place a lot. I don’t know what they’re doing there, but they hang out a lot.”

“Good for them? Do you want me to pass the message onto Craig?”

“No,” he shook his head. “Just thought you’d like to know what your sister in law is doing.”

He pressed his lips into a line. “You done yet?”

“Oh come on! I’m just teasing.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re so pent up. Get yourself some cock or something. Especially when it’s laid out in front of you.”

“Please just take your coffee and go home.”

With a smirk, Kenny left, the door’s bell ringing behind him as he did.

Yeah, he and Kenny would never be close to good friends.

* * *

The next week when Clyde came down to visit, he only brought Logan with him.

Tweek’s first instinct was suspicion, as they made their orders. Logan’s eyes strayed on him for a moment, and brushed his fingers against his as he took his cup with a ‘thank you’. Tweek was a stranger to flirting, but even he could tell that was exactly what was going on.

His only solution was to pull Clyde to the staff room and to yell at him.

“Okay, look hear me out,” Clyde said the second the door closed. “He’s nice, he likes Marvel movies–”

“Clyde,” Tweek cut him off. “I don’t need you setting me up with people.”

“But I asked him and he said he thought you were cute!” he defended. “And he really liked your cupcakes, right?”

“That’s besides the point,” he said and crossed his arms. “If I like a guy, let me do all the work without your help.”

“Excuse me, but you would’ve done nothing. You weren’t going to flirt with him, and you weren’t even going to try to figure out if he was into dudes. And it wasn’t even my plan, he asked when we left if you were into guys. I played no part in this.”

“But you brought him back here.”

“Yeah, because he _asked_ me to. Because he’s _into_ you. You can’t just go your whole life wanting a relationship but not doing anything about it. Just, I don’t know, do whatever it was the made you and Craig date each other.”

“That was a really long time ago.” And they were only together because of the art, because if it wasn’t for the art they would’ve gone so many years still denying their sexualities and their feelings for each other. Craig would’ve probably had it worse, with his whole dad situation. But when he asked Craig to be with him, even then he had to shield himself by avoiding to say he wanted to do it because he’d had a crush on him for months. Craig was the one to hold his hand, and when they were alone they were able to actually talk about what was going through their heads and how gay they’d been the whole time. That’s not exactly something you could implement with other guys.

“Tweek, please, just give him a shot,” he said. “Just talk to him, I promise I do think you’d actually be great together. I’m not just setting you up with him because he’s into dudes, I know plenty of them at my college.”

He huffed. “Fine. I’ll get his number but that’s it.”

Clyde grinned in satisfaction.

When they left the staff room, Logan was waiting quite awkwardly. Tweek went back to his usual place, and after he got a start on their orders he turned to Logan.

“So, uh, could I maybe get your number?” It came out stuttered, but it came out. It was obvious he’d never done this before but Logan didn’t seem to mind, not with the grin that had plastered on his face.

“Yeah, you can,” he said and Tweek handed him his phone so he could type it in.

He grinned and handed him his phone back. “I’ll talk to you soon,” he said.

He nodded. “Right.” He did have to admit that Logan was pretty cute. He had good taste in coffee, and he had strawberry blond hair and freckles sprinkled on his skin. Tweek wasn’t sure what his type exactly was but this guy was kind of doing it for him.

Maybe Clyde was actually doing something here.


	16. Chapter 16

Tweek did end up going on a date with Logan. He took a bus to Denver and they went to the movies. They’d shared popcorn and Logan held his hand when the lights went down, seemingly ignoring how clammy Tweak’s hands had gotten. Tweek found himself being able to get through that date only almost running off the bathroom to calm down his anxiety. When he’d gotten home, he’d texted Clyde he was right, which was something he’d never thought he’d do. Clyde seemed pretty smug about it too.

Tweek was the one who asked him on a second date. It was at City Wok, mostly because he knew Logan wanted to see more of South Park. He was still pretty anxious but Logan would smile and tell him there was no need to be shy.

He liked him. He knew that part for sure. He was cute and definitely funny, and he majoring in Art History.

He didn’t see him too much since there was that little bit of a distance and neither of them could drive, but they’d made up for it by texting. Especially when Christmas break came and he went back to Iowa.

Craig, Token, and Jimmy were all coming home for Christmas over the next few days. Clyde had already been home for a few days, and they mostly spent that time playing video games or watching movies when Tweek wasn’t working. It was far better than his habit of popping in and out only to leave before they could even hang out.

Craig was meant to be back the next day, and Tweek had been thinking about it a lot. Craig and him were texting as constantly anymore as he’d made friends and Tweek had Logan. He hadn’t gotten around to telling Craig he was dating someone. Not technically his boyfriend, not yet. It was something that hadn’t come up, it went along with their rarely talking about guys thing.

He really wasn’t sure why they did that. He couldn’t pin it to their own relationship. And they’d commented on the attractiveness of guys a million times before. But he couldn’t help but feel a little weird at the thought of telling Craig he was seeing someone. He wasn’t totally sure why, but he never found a chance to say it. He’d have to remember to tell him when he got back, maybe when he asked him about his own luck with guys.

His dad had sent him to organise the shelves behind the counter, which was the usual mind numbing boring jobs he sent him on. Though he still had to deal with customers, and the multitasking that came with that got grating.

He felt his shoulders deflate when he heard the doors bell. He’d hoped it was someone leaving or meeting with their friend.

“Excuse me,” an all too familiar voice said. “Can I get a to-go cup of my favourite person?”

He grinned and turned around, seeing Craig on the other side of the counter.

“Craig!” he laughed. He got out from behind the counter and threw his arms around him in a hug. “I thought you were coming back tomorrow?”

He grinned at him when he stepped away. “I wanted to surprise you,” he said.

“Well I’m happily surprised,” he said and craned his head to the staff room his dad was in. “I’m going on my break!”

He made himself and Craig coffee’s quickly, telling Craig his was on him, and they sat at a table in the back.

“I’m assuming the coffee in Florida is better?” he asked, taking a sip on is coffee.

“I guess,” he shrugged. “I met this dude from Australia, said the coffee is far better in Melbourne.”

He snorted. “Well, if we ever find ourselves in Australia we should try then.”

“As if you wouldn’t drink coffee no matter where we were. We could be in the middle of the desert and you’d find a way.”

“Fuck you,” he said and swatted his arm. Although he was probably right.

“So,” Craig said leaning back in his chair. “What’d I miss while I was gone?”

He shrugged. “Not much,” he said. “Kenny’s working at the supermarket, I guess. And since the rest of those assholes are gone, he mostly hangs out with Butters.” He’d seen them around from time to time. Their polar opposite personalities would make you think they wouldn’t be that great of friends but they’d seemed to enjoy their time together. From what he could see at least.

He groaned. “Sucks that you only have them most of the time,” he said.

He shrugged. “I’m working most of the time anyway,” he said. “Tricia has been hanging out with Karen though.”

He frowned. “Are you fucking serious?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Hopefully she’s not into any of the bullshit her brother gets into.”

“Hopefully,” he muttered. “What about you? Anything exciting happen to you that you haven’t told me about?”

He bit his lip as his lips went into a smile, and he shuffled in his spot. Craig grinned. “Ooh, is there a boy?”

“Shut up.” His face was probably bright red at this point. “I’ve sort of been dating this guy.”

“Really, huh?”

“Only kind of. But uh, it’s been nice. He’s nice.”

“How’d you meet him?”

“Clyde brought him home as a third wheel, he’s been bringing a lot of girls home,” he shrugged.

He gave him a confused look. “You really went out with a guy Clyde set you up with?”

“Apparently that wasn’t the plan, although Clyde’s been coming home every weekend with girls, but he didn’t bring a girl that time. Just the guy for me.”

“Well do you have a picture of this mystery guy?”

He smiled and took out his phone, going to Logan’s Instagram. He showed him one of his favourite pictures of Logan, Craig leaned forward and smiled. “He’s cute,” he said.

He put his phone away. Okay, talking about guys with him was kind of cool actually. He wasn’t going to do it with his straight guy friends, and he didn’t have any female friends so he was really his best option.

“What about you?”

“No boys for me unfortunately,” he said. “I have made friends though. They’re cool.”

He nodded. He’d seen them of his Instagram, he did seem to be really enjoying himself at college. It made him wonder if he was just going to forget about South Park. Forget about their friends.

Forget about him.

“That’s great,” he said instead.

“Yeah, and it’s great having more queer friends,” he smiled. “Finally, more people to understand my advanced humour.”

He smiled. “Hopefully I meet these ever so great friends. I’m sick of this town.”

He nodded. “You’ll get out, don’t worry.”

He wasn’t going to lay on him that he won’t. He knew that Tweek Bros. will be his to own one day, whether he liked it or not. That that was going to be how it’d be for however many generations of Tweaks. And since he was an only child, he’d have to be the one to provide and ‘heir’ eventually. He didn’t love the idea of forcing his kids into it. The café was almost a contender for Kitchen Nightmares.

“So, what are classes like?” he asked, figuring it was time to change the subject.

A beat passed before he replied. “Okay?” he supplied. “I don’t know, college is hard. And we have so many credits that have nothing to do with our degrees we need to cover, it’s bullshit.” He took a sip of his coffee. He clearly didn’t want to talk about it. It seemed to be more than it just being a boring topic. If it was something else, he wasn’t going to find out what today.

“You’ve always been terrible at math,” he joked.

That put a smile back on Craig’s face. “That’s because I’m gay.”

“Right, same.”

They both laughed and Tweek realised how much he was going to miss this when Craig went back to Florida. Maybe a little too much.

* * *

The house was mostly the same when Craig dropped off his suitcase before going to see Tweek. The Christmas decorations still hadn’t been put up, but the boxes the showed they were planning to be put up were all over the living room.

No one was home when he initially came home, but by the time he got home after stopping by Clyde’s quickly after Tweek Bros. he could hear Tricia upstairs in her room. He figured he should go upstairs and say hi to her. Maybe even check with her if she was actually friends with Kenny’s sister.

He knocked on her door to her room. “Tricia, I’m home,” he said through and opened the door.

Tricia was sat on her bed with Karen a pile of makeup between them. Tricia turned to him and grinned. “Hey,” she said. “You look like shit.”

He kind of did. He just threw on warm clothes when he landed, not really caring how he’d looked. He was used to Florida’s humidity at this point, but he did kind of miss the cold and especially the snow. When the bus got to South Park he’d almost leapt into a pile of snow face first.

“Hi, Karen,” he said. “How’s Kenny?”

“Alright,” she said.

“What’re you two up to,” he asked, leaning against the door frame. “Gossiping about boys?”

Tricia blushed and flipped him off. “Fuck off.”

He grinned. No one would question that they were siblings. “What?” he asked with a smile.

“Get out,” she said a reached for a pillow and threw it at him.

He snorted and stepped out of her room. “Okay, talk to you later.” He closed the door going to his bedroom.

He hadn’t really thought he’d miss his family home but it was nice to be back in it. It was a nice familiarity. He’d never been so far from home for an extended period of time (not counting that time in Peru which he would rather forget about).

Really, he’d realised how much he’d missed the people more. He wasn’t used to being on his own, and it was already so nice being around family and friends he’d missed for months. He had become pretty good friends with Nathan, Seth, and Alex but they weren’t like the friends he’d had for a decade. Though they were still nice company and they’d introduced him to more people.

Once Token and Jimmy were back too he could pretend for a few days that things were still normal, even though leaving again would be hard.


	17. Chapter 17

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Tweek asked, trudging through the snow behind Clyde, Token, and Jimmy, the leaves of the forest crunching under their feet and crutches. 

“When has Clyde ever had a good idea?” Craig asked from his side. 

“Rude,” Clyde said. “Live a little, Jesus. They’re just fireworks.”

“But what if we start a fire?” Tweek asked, his voice going high. “Or what if we get arrested? Aren’t fireworks still illegal in Colorado?”

“Tweek,” Craig cut in before he could spiral anymore. “It’s okay. Clyde knows how to light fireworks and we won’t get in trouble.”

He frowned at him. “How do you know he knows how to light fireworks?”

“We lit them the Fourth Of July last year.” That year Tweek had been out of state visiting his grandparents, so he, Clyde, Token, Jimmy, Jordan, and some girls from school lit some fireworks in the same place they were going to now. 

“Oh,” Tweek said. “And it was okay?”

“Perfectly,” he said. “It went better than Clyde’s attempts at flirting with the girls he’d brought.”

“This is bullying!” Clyde called, but Tweek’s smile made it worth it. 

“Sp-sp-sp-speaking of,” Jimmy cut in. “Are there any g-g-g-girls tonight?”

Craig and Tweek gave an over exaggerated groan. That had become their go to response whenever their friends talked about girls. Their friends had learnt to tune it out at this point though, which was fine. It was less about showing their annoyance and more of a joke between him and Tweek. 

“Well, I messeged Bebe and she said she was in and is bringing Wendy,” Clyde grinned. 

“Sweet!” Jimmy grinned.

“Downside, they’re bringing Stan and those assholes, as well as Butters.”

“Great,” Craig grunted. It was like they could never get away from those jerks. He liked Wendy and Bebe well enough, and Kenny on his own wasn’t actually the worst. But all four of the assholes together always brought disaster. Tweek used to go on for hours about all the bullshit they’d drag him into and even try and pin responsibility on him for. 

“I know,” Clyde grunted. “Do you think Wendy’s still into Marsh?”

Token snorted. “That’s as likely as Bebe still being into you.”

“Oh come on!” he protested. “There’s still a chance, feelings can come back.”

“Keep telling yourself that, dude.” 

“She’s probably found hotter dudes at college,” Craig said. 

“Are you saying I’m not hot?” Clyde faux pouted.

“You’re hideous really.” In truth, Craig made it a rule to not think about how attractive friends were. He didn’t want to waste time on crushing on straight friends. He would barely even let himself acknowledge if he found Tweek attractive. But that was more for their friendship, he didn’t want to sink into any rabbit holes of crushes that were a lost cause. The last time he really had thought about it was prom night, but that was it. 

They reached the clearing where Bebe, Wendy, Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Butters, and Cartman already sat. It resembled a campsite, which made it plenty spacious enough to set off the fireworks and for there to safely be more than a few people. 

“Hey assholes,” Craig said, mostly looking at Stan’s gang. His eyes switched to Bebe and Wendy and gave them a kind smile. “And you girls.”

Bebe laughed. A real laugh, not the fake ones girls gave guys when they were trying to laugh at their bad jokes. “Hi, Craig. And hey Tweek.” She gave Tweek a huge smile. Also a real one. Tweek had never really said anything about being friends with her, but she did seem to have this whole blonde solidarity view on their relationship. 

“Don’t we get a hello?” Clyde asked, setting down the bag of fireworks. 

“Sorry dude,” he said. “It’s gay privileges.” 

He raised his brow. “What other ‘privileges’ are there exactly?”

“Not being straight.”

Tweek gave a loud snort and covered his mouth with his hand. Wendy and Bebe both smiled too while the guys gave them either annoyed looks or an eye roll. Though, he wasn’t sure if he’d imagined it, but Stan and Kyle’s lips slightly twitched between their eye rolls. 

“Fuck you,” Cartman cut in before he could think about it further. “I’m glad I’m not all faggy.”

“Okay,” he shrugged. “I, for one, am happy being a huge ass faggot.”

“Are you done?” Kyle asked as Cartman seemed pretty shocked Craig would call himself a slur he loved throwing around. “Are we gonna light this shit or not?” 

“Yes!” Clyde said. “Let’s do it.”

They all stood as far back as necessary as Clyde and Token set up the fireworks. Craig huddled with Tweek and Jimmy, watching them from afar. 

“They’ve done this before, right?” Wendy asked. For someone who had chosen to be there she looked pretty concerned. 

“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “It’s f-f-f-fff- it’s okay.” 

“Yeah,” Bebe said. “It was in his Instagram story last year. I wouldn’t have brought you here if I knew something would blow up or get caught on fire.” She gave her a smile, and Wendy smiled back at her. 

Craig watched them for a moment, noticing how their arms were pressed against each other even though there was plenty of room to be a few inches apart. Maybe it was just how girl friendships were but it did seem a little odd to him. Although, to be fair, he wasn’t a girl and he hadn’t had much female friends in his time to really observe how their friendships were different from guy ones. Though, he definitely knew straight guys wouldn’t stand like that. They’d probably call the other a faggot and punch him. 

It was kind of different from his friendship with Tweek. Maybe they just navigated it different because of their history but they’d never been weird about cuddling or the occasional piggy back ride. They didn’t care if people even recognised them as gay, he was more avoidant of the ‘boyfriends’ label. But maybe that was why straight guys did care. Straight guys hated being thought of gay. That was one thing he knew in his nineteen years of life. Even his own friends had some weirdness. It was rare but he’d never seen Token and Clyde sit closer than needed. 

Maybe that was why they were convinced they had feelings for each other. He’d mostly forgotten about their conversation he’d overheard when he and Tweek fell asleep on the beanbag in Token’s room. He didn’t dwell on it too much. He knew he saw Tweek as a friend. He wasn’t ten anymore, his romantic relationship was well and over. It got a little frustrating when people kept deciding for them it wasn’t without consulting them. 

“Okay!” Clyde called. “Let’s go!” He lit the fireworks and he and Token came running back to the group. Craig looked up, the fireworks going off in the night sky. 

“See,” he said, leaning to Tweek. “It’s okay.” 

Tweek was staring up at the sky as the fireworks went off. “Yeah,” he said.

They ran out of fire works quickly, but Kenny had brought some beers from home so they sat in a circle, getting one each. 

It was a weird familiar feeling. They all hadn’t actually hung out in a few years. They’d mostly stuck to their own groups during high school, and hadn’t really necessarily hung out a lot before high school. But despite that, these were people he’d known his whole life and they were all in place for the first time in a while. 

“So how’s your guys’ college lives going?” Stan asked.

Craig shrugged. “Okay. It’s hot as shit in Florida though.”

“And far as shit, dude,” Kyle said. “Why didn’t you go somewhere closer? Stan and I are only at Colorado State.”

He shrugged. “A ton of us moved far.”

“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “Anything is be-be-be-better than this shit hole.”

“Fair,” Kyle shrugged. 

“God,” Cartman said with an exasperated sigh. “My mom wanted me to stay close which is why I’m going to DU.”

That was unfortunate for everyone stuck in the town. Everyone would rather he moved to a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. “DU’s not bad,” Craig shrugged. 

“Yeah, and it’s big enough so I don’t have to run into him,” Clyde muttered under his breath next to him. 

“Well, at least it’s not community college,” Cartman said snidely, staring right at Butters.

Butters frowned. “Eric don’t be a jerk.”

“Yeah, fuck off Cartman,” Kenny said, giving Cartman a sharp glare. 

“Right. Butters family can actually afford college.”

Kenny gritted his teeth. “Fuck you, fatass!”

They really had to stop inviting Cartman places. 

“People’s worth aren’t determined on whether or not they go to college, Cartman,” Wendy said, crossing her arms. Bebe nodded in agreement next to her. 

“Yeah, stop being a dickhead,” Bebe said.

“Hey, at least I’m not doing women’s studies,” Cartman scoffed.

“At least I have a major you piece of shit!” 

Craig leaned over to Tweek. “Why are they friends with Cartman again,” he whispered. 

“I have no fucking idea.”

The bickering went on for most of the rest of the night. Everyone decided they were ready to leave when Cartman made a comment to Wendy how she’s part of the reason why frat guys are afraid to flirt with girls. Bebe had to restrain her from scratching his eyes out. 

It had gotten pretty cold since they ended up staying out pretty late. Craig walked with Tweek in the back, as Tweek seemed pretty tired already. 

“You good?” he asked, noting how he was swaying a little as he walked. 

“Yeah,” he said between a yawn. “Alcohol makes me sleepy.” 

He nodded, remembering the night at Token’s party. “And you’re a bit of a lightweight.” 

“Like you’re not,” he scoffed.

“Hey, I’ve only had a few beers in between,” he said. “You aren’t really walking straight though.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m walking gay.”

“Leave the bad puns to Jimmy,” he smiled. “But I don’t want you to trip over anything, especially since it’s dark.” Their only source of light was phone flashlights, but things were still pretty unclear. “Want me to carry you or something?”

He frowned. “That’s gay.”

“You’re gay.”

A smile cracked back onto his face. “Okay.”

They stopped and Craig easily lifted Tweek onto his back. They were about the same height, so it did cause a little bit of an awkward angle. But Tweek was pretty skinny which made him pretty light and easy to carry. 

Surprisingly, no one made a comment on it. Cartman almost did, but a cold glare from Kyle and Wendy stopped him before anything could come out. Craig didn’t focus on that, he just focussed on not tripping over anything as Tweek held on tightly to him. 

When they got back to town they went their separate ways. Craig and Clyde lived in the same direction so they split off together when the turning points came. 

“So,” Craig asked, staring up at the starry sky. “What is this Logan kid like?”

“Why?” Clyde asked wiggling his eyebrows. “Jealous?”

“Dude, fuck no,” he said and hit his arm. “I just want to know what kind of guy my friend is dating.”

“Uh, okay,” he shrugged. “He’s pretty artsy, like he’s majoring in Art History. Which, kind of fits since Tweek plays piano. That whole arts shit.”

“Okay, but I meant his personality.”

He shrugged. “He’s cool. I met him through a girl I dated a little. I don’t know him super well. I didn’t even set them up, I introduced them yeah but I didn’t know he was bi. He said something about Tweek when we left Tweek Bros. and I helped out but that was the extent.”

He nodded. He’d seen his picture and he was was pretty cute. Not movie star cute but cute enough. Cute enough for Tweek. But he wanted to know if said guy was good enough for him too. He didn’t want Tweek to get tossed around by some jerk. And while Tweek wasn’t the kind of person to let someone push him around, he didn’t want him to fall for someone who treated him like shit in the end. 

“Cool,” he said. “I’m glad he’s trying to put himself out there.” That wasn’t a lie. He knew Tweek wanted to date, and he was happy to see he finally was. That was the important part. 

He nodded. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I wouldn’t let some asshole get him, okay?” 

He nodded. “Okay.” He just really hoped that was true.


	18. Chapter 18

Tweek wasn’t sure what he’d expected when he got to DU but the campus pretty big.

Logan had wanted him to meet his own friends, which Tweek was nervous about. He’d wanted at least Clyde to at least be there but he was busy that same night. When he noted his anxiety to Logan, his just nuzzled against his skin and told him that there was no need to be shy. He didn’t bother to tell him it was more than being shy.

They’d officially become boyfriends, and had their first kiss the first time they saw each other after Christmas break. It was nice, really nice actually. He could actually say he had a boyfriend. He hadn’t told his parents yet, that could wait for another time. But since his parents didn’t know how to use social media beyond Facebook, he just posted pictures of them on Instagram and Twitter. It was the cute little relationship he was always jealous of, and he finally had it.

Logan’s friends were a mix of guys and girls, and all of them were straight. Hopefully the girls didn’t fall into the category of girls who wanted to talk about Rupaul’s Drag Race.

He didn’t necessarily talk. They mostly talked about classes, Tweek just tuning out and siping the beer he’d picked up. They’d met with them at a party at a frat house, so they were seated on a couch area. Logan’s arm was around his shoulders, and it did make Tweek curious if people could tell they were a couple. What if some random homophobe saw them? When he and Craig were dating they were able to get away with everything thanks to age, and the town not having an issue with it. He mumbled his nerves to Logan in between a conversation, and he just laughed and told him to not worry. Tweek frowned in response but he didn’t seem to notice.

“So, Tweek,” piped up a girl named Stacy. “Are you in college?”

He shook his head. “Uh, no. I stayed in my hometown to help my parents run their coffee place.”

“He’s from the same town as Clyde,” Logan explained.

“Oh, yeah Chloe talked about that town,” she nodded. Judging by her tone, the judgment she’d heard from the town wasn’t positive. Not that Tweek had anything good to say either.

“I’m saving to move,” he said. He’d actually saved quite a bit, and there were a few bakeries in Denver, and he’d been working on his baking that maybe he could find himself a job there. Or at least making coffee there since he wasn’t sure how far he could get without a qualification. It wasn’t like he could open his own.

The group didn’t seem to care since the conversation’s subject immediately changed to whether joining a frat or sorority was a good idea.

Tweek remained quiet, switching to look at his phone. He went to Instagram and scrolled through, hoping something interesting would come up. Mostly he just saw posts from celebrities he followed.

He stopped scrolling when he came across a picture of Craig. It was a picture from a café and he was with the three friends he’d made. His friends were smiling and in typical Craig fashion, his face was stone. He wondered how he looked to people who wouldn’t easily read him. He wondered that a lot really.

Logan looked over his shoulder down at his phone. “Who’s that?” he asked casually.

“My friend, Craig,” he said, pointing to him. He said it as smoothly as he could, hoping his tone didn’t have any indication he had something to hide. Not that he technically did. He hadn’t detailed his romantic history to Logan. It hadn’t come up. Right now didn’t seem like the right time to say _“my ex boyfriend from when I was ten”_ or _“my first kiss”._ And definitely not _“the boy I lost my virginity to.”_ He’d tell him if he’d asked, but it wasn’t a lie to say Craig was his friend.

“Mhm,” he mumbled. “From South Park too?”

Tweek could already guess he was going to ask Clyde about him, so he just nodded. “Yeah, I’ve known him for years.”

“Cool,” was all he said.

He pushed away from the picture without liking it.

* * *

Craig wasn’t sure if he was a causal person.

He hadn’t made any attempts of one night stands. Dating wasn’t something he’d tried to do. All he could really pin it to was that he might have high standards. Nathan had offered to set him up with some of his friends, but when Craig met them none had held his attention long enough.

Nathan had lazed himself upside down on Craig’s suites couch, staring at the TV as an episode of Crazy Ex Girlfriend played. Probably out of all the friends he’d made, he’d clicked with Nathan the most. Maybe it had to do with they were constantly third wheeling Alex and Seth. But Nathan was an overall pretty cool guy. He was into music and trips off campus in his car typically included playlists he’d made himself with new music he’d found. They had similar music taste, more in the rock genre, so he found a lot of new music through him. He also had a soft spot for musicals, hence why they were watching a show that was built around it. Craig had never seen it before but he was surprised by how much he enjoyed it.

It was a pretty common theme when it came to TV shows Nathan suggested to him. After a lot of convincing, Nathan got him to watch the reboot of Queer Eye. As much as it brought him back to his embarrassing and overall cringey ‘metrosexual’ phase, he did actually enjoy it. Nathan seemed far more obsessed with it though.

They were only partway through the first season of Crazy Ex Girlfriend, and Craig had decided he definitely liked it. Nathan had insisted for a while that the show is great, even though the title gave the wrong first impression. And it had queers which was his final push to start to watch it.

“When are your roommates getting back?” he asked, as Craig laid in the armchair.

“Depends,” he shrugged. “Alejandro and Ricardo tend to stay out later and Aaron’s been hanging out with frat guys a lot lately.”

“Gross,” he grumbled.

He laughed. “They’re not too bad. I can live with them, literally.”

He rolled so he was on his back on the couch. “Yeah, I know a lot of people who roomed with their friends to avoid crappy roommates.”

That made him think of Stan and Kyle. They’d never said anything about rooming together, and he didn’t ask because he didn’t care, but surely they roomed together to avoid mishaps and shitty roommates. He hadn’t bothered to check for himself on their Instagrams, but he did know if any of his friends had decided to go to the same college as him then they’d definitely be rooming together.

“Lucky them,” he shrugged.

Half way through the first seasons finale, the door opened with a slam and giggling followed a moment later. Craig turned his head to see Aaron pulling in a girl who thankfully wasn’t intoxicated.

Aaron seemed to always forget about their rules around bringing people up here if you were going to fuck them. Great.

Before he could even get in a condescending “ _hi_ Aaron”, Aaron pulled the girl into their room and closing the door behind them.

“Well,” Craig grumbled. “Looks like I’m sleeping on the couch tonight.”

Nathan laughed. “That happen a lot?”

He nodded. “Yeah, and my back has gotten messed up.” The first time it had happened, Craig had been in the room and Aaron had to practically beg him to leave (said girl suggested he could stay and join, and when he’d informed her he was gay he’d bolted out when she said that didn’t matter), then there was the time he’d been in the middle of trying to fall asleep and Aaron brought in a different girl and didn’t even check to make sure he was asleep before going to town. Craig wasn’t able to look him in the face for over a week.

“My roommate’s out of town,” he shrugged. “You can sleep in his bed if he’s okay with it.”

He raised his brow at him. He knew it wasn’t his way of coming onto him since Nathan had declared that he didn’t date friends after a disastrous breakup ruined a friendship, so it was most likely just a nice gesture for having shitty roommates.

“Okay,” he nodded. “We can finish the episode at your dorm as well.”

* * *

Craig actually hadn’t been to Nathan’s dorm, but from one glance he could tell he was a huge fan of decorating. His walls were covered in an assortment of posters, ranging from musicals to indie bands. His desk was next to his bed and had a wide range of Funko Pops and a mug used to hold his pens and a small rainbow flag.

His roommate had his own posters and random junk laying around too. It looked like how you’d except 20 year olds dorms to look really.

“He got back to me and said you could sleep there,” he pointed to the bed. “He said they’re clean and said I would have to wash the sheets since he’s kind of a germaphobe.”

Craig nodded and settled on the bed, noticing that there was a small TV in the room too.

“We can finish off the episode,” Nathan said. “It’s Apple TV. You can get changed in the bathroom while I set it up.”

Craig ducked into the bathroom and slipped into the pyjamas he’d randomly grabbed. It was his old gay NASA shirt and pyjama pants with robots on them. He’d usually wear the shirt with his space themed pants but he’d forgotten to pack them. Besides, wearing both of them made him think of prom night and the last thing he’d needed was to remember prom night incorrectly. Or do anything inappropriate in them while wearing them. For some reason, both of them together made his sensory memories stronger and would lead to hands where they shouldn’t be at certain times.

It was easy to pull out of that memory and he settled back onto the bed, seeing the TV was ready.

“Ah, is that the famous shirt your friend gave to you?” Nathan asked, looking over the room.

Craig nodded. “Yeah,” he said. That’s all there was to say. He was surprised Nathan even remembered him mentioning the shirt.

They finished the episode, and agreed to at least start the next one before going to bed. They watched it in mostly silence, making a few comments here and there and Nathan would sometimes hum to the music. When the episode was over, Nathan turned the TV off, and soon followed it with his lamp. Craig settled on his back, feeling tired but he wasn’t sure if he was tired enough to fall asleep.

His mind was still on Tweek. What was he doing? Was his boyfriend treating him right? Had he figured out how to handle him when it came to his anxiety? He really hoped he’d had, for Tweek’s sake.

Had they even had sex? Would Logan be a great boyfriend and Tweek regrets he didn’t wait until him to have sex instead of wasting it with him?

He really hoped he’d be able to meet him eventually. Just to see how he is. He wanted to make sure Tweek wasn’t in a bad situation. He pinned this fear on his relationship with Jordan but even that started all perfect and Tweek also thinking it was perfect all the way though.

Here’s hoping he was happy with him and Clyde didn’t set a dickhead on him.


	19. Chapter 19

Tweek’s parents seemed to like Logan. That’s the impression they gave at least. Tweek would put money on the fact they were still kind of disappointed it wasn’t Craig he was bringing home. He definitely knew his dad liked the kind of ‘business’ having a gay son that was in a relationship brought. He kept that part away from Logan, who seemed happy by how supportive his parents appeared to be.

The real downside of it all was his parents thinking whenever he left the house to meet with him was that he’d be going off to have sex with him, and in their minds he hadn’t had sex before him. Somehow they hadn’t figured out he and Craig had had sex but he was happy to keep that information far away from them.

The topic of sex had kind of been brought up between him and Logan. As well as relationship history. When Logan asked him if he’d dated in the past, he’d decided that was the best time to tell him about how he and Craig dated in fourth through to sixth grade. His response wasn’t jealousy, like he’d feared, but he’d laughed and said that it was cute. He’d said ‘cute’ in the kind of way someone would call a kitten cute. It was obvious from there that he didn’t take the relationship seriously. Tweek sometimes wondered why he still did. Craig still took it seriously too at least, so he wasn’t the only one taking a childish relationship too seriously.

He didn’t tell Logan that they’d had sex on prom night, nor that kissing Craig on that night was the first time he’d kissed a guy since sixth grade. He’d seemed to just assume no relationship since sixth grade meant nothing happened in between. Even that he’d hadn’t even kissed anyone, and that Logan was his “real” first kiss. Tweek didn’t tell him how much he’d hated that mindset.

He’d really just focussed on enjoying his relationship with Logan. He was a good boyfriend. For the most part at least. He didn’t go into the relationship thinking he’d understand his anxiety. Especially not on Craig’s level. But his way of handling it seemed to be patting his back – he had the touch down at least – and telling him he didn’t have to worry. Though, it could sometimes being dismissive instead of comforting like it’d been with Craig. He hadn’t detailed out his anxiety to him, so sometimes Logan seemed to think he was just a nervous person. He wasn’t really sure how to though which only made things worse.

That night specifically, was one he was spending with Logan. It was the first time they were spending the night together in any capacity. Logan’s roommate wasn’t there either and Tweek was smart enough to know what that meant.

He’d been to Logan’s dorm before, and he easily tossed his overnight bag to the side as he laid on his bed like it was his own. When Logan closed the door he crawled onto the bed and kissed him.

“Hello,” he said, nuzzling their noses together.

Tweek smiled. “Hi,” he said.

“So, I was thinking,” he said against his skin. “Since we’ve been together for a while and since you are spending the night, did you want to have sex?”

He nodded. “Yeah, definitely.” Because he did and they’d waited long enough. Mostly because Logan hadn’t had sex before and since the thought Tweek hadn’t either, it seemed like it was best to wait at least a little bit.

Tweek felt guilty about not telling him he’d had sex before, and it’d probably bite him in the ass later. But before he could dwell on it too much, Logan kissed him again and they went in without saying much else.

When they were done, Tweek got out the clothes he’d brought to sleep in. He’d been in a rush so he just grabbed things quickly, making sure to bring a toothbrush especially, and ran out the door before he missed his bus.

He hadn’t even realised the shirt he’d grabbed was an old Red Racer shirt that had belonged to Craig. He’d left it at his house one day when they were sixteen and when he’d tried to give it back, Craig told him he could keep it. He never said why, but he’d just thrown it into his dresser and forgot about it. It hadn’t even been washed since the day he’d left it there.

That shirt was all he’d had to sleep in. Like some kind of fucked up karma for not telling Logan the truth.

He slipped the shirt on like nothing was wrong, and went to brush his teeth. The only option there was was the communal bathrooms. Logan had told him the people there were nice, or at least decent. He also had permission to tell people who questioned his presence that he was his boyfriend. That was weight off his shoulders because the last thing he wanted to do was accidentally out him.

The smell wasn’t his favourite thing about the bathrooms, and it made him wonder how many people pissed in the showers or worse, jerked off in there. He ignored the smell as best he could, trying to not touch the counter as he brushed his teeth.

He’d been trying to asses how he’d felt about having sex with Logan. It’d felt good, and Tweek definitely passed for a virgin, but the feelings around sex were still something he wasn’t used to. How people did this with complete strangers so easily was beyond him.

He’d heard footsteps and for a moment, Tweek panicked it was a stranger asking what he was doing there. But after a moment, Logan appeared in his own clothes and wrapped his arms around him from behind. Tweek smiled against him, leaning back into him.

“Hello,” Logan said and kissed his shoulder.

“Hey,” he replied through a mouthful of toothpaste spit. He leaned down to spit it out before he could accidentally swallow it or anything like that.

When his head came back up, he saw that Logan was smiling through the mirror. “Your hair is so messy,” he said and tried to smooth it down.

“It’s always messy,” Tweek shrugged but smiled when he kissed a spot behind his ear.

“We should definitely do that again sometime,” he mumbled, resting his forehead against the back of his head.

He grinned. “Definitely.”

* * *

The last person Tweek had expected to show up to work was Kenny.

It’d seemed that after some time, Kenny had dropped coming by and harassing him at Tweek Bros.. Tweek had assumed it was because he’d picked up more shifts, but he’d also seen him hanging out with Butters. And he was doing it a lot. He wasn’t necessarily surprised by it but he knew that there were sometimes those people you only hung out with because your other friends were friends with them. Like whenever he hung out with Stan, Kyle, or Cartman. Clyde was more friends with them than anything, which caused the rest of the group to be forced to deal with them. Mostly to his and Craig’s dismay since he was still angry about Peru, and Tweek was still angry about everything. Nothing too specific, just anything that happened when he’d spent far too much time with them.

Today, Kenny was alone and didn’t even have a smug smile on his face. He had a smile, but it seemed more friendly if anything. He’d also chosen the time of the time that the place was usually at its most quiet.

“What Kenny?” He didn’t even try to put on the customer service voice, allowing the hostility in his tone.

“Whoa, dude,” he laughed. “Don’t worry. I just came looking for advice.”

He frowned. What kind of advice could Kenny of all people be looking for? And what kind of advice could Tweek even offer that he couldn’t get from someone else. “What?”

He leaned against the counter, and the smile on his face was gone. “How’d you know you were gay?”

Okay, that was something he couldn’t really go asking someone else about, unless he wanted to find Big Gay Al or Mr. Slave. Not that he understood why he was asking it at all. “Uh, excuse me?”

“How’d you know? Like, what was the thing that made you go ‘oh shit’. Especially since it was before puberty and testing with porn wasn’t an option.”

Was this guy for real? How did he even really explain it? Really, that whole drawings incident played a huge part. In more of the sense he allowed himself to think about his sexuality and especially think about his feelings towards Craig. Not the typical experience, nor was it a way he’d recommend. But there were parts that he could turn into advice.

“Craig,” he said. “I’d had a crush on him for ages before we’d dated. And he’d liked me since that fight in third grade you guys tricked us into. Which you have never even apologised for, mind you.”

“Okay, anyway,” he said, ignoring the last bit. “How’d you know it was, like, gay? And not strong friendship feelings?”

He frowned, actually stopping to really think about it. He’d been in denial until the drawings, where he did think he just cared about Craig in a friendship sort of way. But all the fuzzy feelings that came when he’d thought about how Craig made him believe in himself, and Craig brought him to a place he felt confident, he’d really realised that it wasn’t that. That he’d had a hopeless crush on him for a while.

“It’s a lot, I guess. It didn’t happen overnight. Why’re you even asking?”

It took a few moments, Kenny taking a lot of interest in the sugar packets on the counter. He took a deep breath. “I think I’m bisexual, maybe pansexual.”

Oh. Okay, Tweek mentally kicked himself for not being more sympathetic. “Okay,” he said. “Uh… is this your way of asking me to test it out? Because I’ve got a boyfriend, y’know?”

Kenny stared at him for a moment than laughed. “Gross dude, no. It’s only partially about whether I’m into dudes anyway,” he said. “I mean, I _think_ I might be into a specific guy, hence the sexuality crisis. But nah, I wouldn’t be that person to ‘test’ anyway. Just needed some advice since it’s been almost like, what? Ten years for you?”

It had almost been ten years. Meaning it’d been almost ten years since he and Craig had started dating. Which was weird. Sometimes it felt it was longer ago than that, and sometimes it felt more recent. It was a weird in between thing.

“Well, is this guy queer?” he asked instead. Might as well offer some advice.

Kenny nodded. “He’s gay,” he said. “He only recently came out and I uh, I don’t know. It made me start to actually sit and think about myself. I mean, I don’t think I’m as into guys as I’m into girls–”

“That’s still being bi.”

“–But I’ve just been doing a lot of thinking. Maybe I’m making it up in my head.”

Tweek shrugged. “Take your time. And if you think you like him, just go for it. Even if you get shot down, at least you tried.”

He nodded. “Who told who when it came to you and Craig, if it’s okay to ask.”

“You do know I’ve been dating someone new and have more examples, right?”

“Hey, he just feels like the most obvious option.”

He bit down on his lip. “Uh, well, kind of me and kind of him. I’d put dating on the table, he initiated said dating.” Aloud, that made no sense. But it was what had happened. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Craig clearly that the strength he’d given him made him realise there was something else there too. Craig seemed to catch on quickly, and soon enough they were holding hands in town and calling each other affectionate pet names.

He huffed. “Okay, you’ve been no help,” he grumbled.

He sighed. “Either give it thought or tell him how you feel. Or both, I don’t know.”

“Whoever said gay guys have it easier was a liar,” he muttered, resting his chin in his hand.

“Didn’t need to tell me that,” he said. “Look, just go for it. Telling Craig how I felt about him was the best decision I’d ever made. So give it a shot, okay?”

He bit down on his lip and sighed. “I’d never had this kind of trouble with girls.”

He snorted. “Well, good luck.”


	20. Chapter 20

If there was one thing Craig knew for sure he needed it was spending Spring Break with his childhood friends.

They idea to go to Vegas was mostly a spur of the moment idea. When Spring Break was getting closer, they all ended up agreeing going on a trip together would be fun. It was a nice break from classes – and work for Tweek – and a good time to spend time together after being apart for months.

They’d all chipped in for one hotel room, one that was big enough to fit all five of them. Specifically it was the kind that was two rooms connected by a bathroom. They hadn’t had an agreement for who shared, but those kind of things tended to be agreed on in the moment anyway.

The only issue on the plane ride was that Tweek had a fear of flying. It was his general anxiety, and in typical fashion, Craig was the one who was sat next to him. He didn’t mind at all, comforting Tweek had never felt like a chore to him. It wasn’t even a question whether or not he was the one comforting him, it was the default. Which probably meant they’d be sharing a room. Another thing that wasn’t a problem.

When the plane took off, they checked for any good movies, Craig making a grumbled that they barely had any gay movies (which earned him a glare from a woman with two young children with her across the asile form them). He let Tweek take control of the movie choice, even though Tweek could take forever to choose a movie.

“Anything gay?” he asked, looking over at his screen.

“There’s Brokeback Mountain,” he said. Craig held back a laugh. In sixth grade, when they were still together, they’d watched the movie in his room. As sad as it was, it was actually pretty good.

“That all?” he asked.

He nodded. “Worse options I guess.”

Craig pulled it up on his screen and they counted to three and pressed play.

Despite the barrier of the headphones, they still conversed during the movie. Whispering “gay” to the other at certain scenes, mocking the pretty terrible sex scene, and quieting down when things got really sad. When things did get really sad, Tweek’s head rested on his shoulder. Craig wasn’t sure if he was watching his own screen anymore.

The movie ended right before they landed. When the credits started to roll, Tweek lifted his head almost in a flinch. Craig was a little caught off guard but he didn’t think too much about it.

They got to their hotel and it was pretty decent. Since all of them but Token were kind of poor, they couldn’t get the nicest room possible but their own savings had paid off. Even with Token insisting he could cover everything and get them a nicer hotel, they’d rather get themselves a place to stay without Token paying for it all because that was kind of weird.

Between the two rooms there were four beds, one room with two queens and one with a single and a king.

“Well, obviously two of us will have to share a bed,” Token said, staring at the king sized bed.

Clyde looked directly at Craig and Tweek. “Well, clearly you two should,” he said. “You did on prom night after all.”

Craig saw Tweek frown from the corner of his eye. “No, that feels borderline cheating,” he said.

Token raised a brow at him. “How the fuck is that cheating?”

He shrugged. “I mean, if any of you told a girl you were dating you’d slept in the same bed as a girl, it would come off as cheating, right?”

Craig turned to him. “He does kind of have a point.” He didn’t want Tweek to deal with uncalled for jealousy like he had. Jordan would’ve probably throttled him if he’d slept in the same bed as Tweek. His jealousy had been through the roof enough after all.

“Well what do you expect? Me and Token to share?” Clyde asked, crossing his arms.

He shrugged. “Do straight guys still unironically say ‘no homo’?” He thought about pointing out how either he or Tweek could share with any of them, but a feeling in his gut told him that’d come off as ‘creepy gay guy’ if he suggested it.

Even after almost ten years it was like he had to tiptoe some things around them. Which was weird because he knew they wouldn’t have a problem with it. But there was also the added fact he’d rather share with Tweek anyway.

“Haha,” Clyde said dryly.

“I say me and Tweek take the other room, you guys get a king anyway. You don’t even have to be close.”

“Well, I’ll t-t-t-take the single be-be-bed,” Jimmy said, sitting on said bed, placing his crutches next to him.

“Whatever,” Clyde said and turned to Token. “Downside is it rules out bringing girls up here.”

“Gross,” Craig said scrunching his nose. “Sharing a room at all is reason enough to not fuck someone in your room.”

Token gave a small smile. “Your roommates do it too?”

“Yes!”

“Oh god,” Jimmy grunted. “Been there, my roommates are hor-hor-horny as shit.”

Tweek laughed. “Yeah, Logan was decent and at least waited for when his roommate wouldn’t be there.” He said it with a red face, Craig guessing because he still felt weird when it came to talking about sex. But that wasn’t what all of his focus was on.

Tweek had had sex with Logan. He should’ve guessed by now that they’d had, but for some reason the news was a surprise.

“Wait, what?” Clyde asked. “You and Logan–”

“Yeah, we did,” he shrugged. He clearly didn’t want to talk too much about it. Craig wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear it. It wasn’t like he’d expected him to bring it up, he didn’t have to. Maybe it was weird to know that Tweek was the first of the two of them to have had sex with someone else.

Not that the others knew that. In their minds, Tweek had just admitted to losing his virginity.

“Whatever, it’s not a big deal,” Tweek said. “C’mon Craig, lets dump our shit in our room.”

He turned and heard right to the connecting bathroom, almost speed walking out. Craig followed after staring for a few seconds, not really wanting to hear any of the lewd comments the guys would make.

Tweek dumped his suitcase onto one of the beds, and Craig followed, putting his own on the other.

Tweek seemed pretty quiet, and he was twitching. He usually had control over his twitching nowadays but it was pretty bad.

“Hey, you okay? What’s wrong?” he asked, hesitating before he put his hand on his shoulder.

“Do you think they know?” he asked.

He frowned. “Know what?”

“That we, you know, on prom night?”

He was still twitching, and he was making those “ngh” sounds. He rarely did them anymore now that he’d had better control over his anxiety but they tended to come out when it got really bad.

Craig squeezed on his shoulder. “No, I don’t think so.” He wanted him to believe it but Craig wasn’t sure if he believed himself. It wasn’t so much as the guys knew, but they probably had theorised they’d had sex. That’s what he’d assume since Clyde offered a condom.

Tweek fell onto his bed. “I didn’t tell Logan I had done it with you,” he said.

He frowned, sitting across from him. “What do you mean?”

He sighed. “We were talking about if we’d been in past relationships, and I told him about us. But like, only when we were little kids. Not about prom night.”

He watched him as he looked at his lap, his shaking beginning to get worse.

“Did he, like, ask if you’d had sex before?” Craig asked, hoping it’d minimise the guilt he was clearly feeling.

He shook his head. “No,” he said. “But I should’ve! Saying my last relationship was in sixth grade to most people means ‘oh I have never been in a real actual relationship so this counts as my first’.” He crossed is arms over his chest.

“Well, uh,” Craig hesitated. “If he never actually asked if you’d had sex before then it’s not your fault he thought it–”

“Lying by omission is still lying.”

“Tweek,” he said, and put his hand on his knee. “Did he say he was a virgin?”

He was silent for a moment before shaking his head. “No. Just that he hadn’t been in a relationship before.”

“Well, for all you know he could’ve hooked up with people before, right?” he squeezed his knee, but that only made him flinch more, so he removed his hand. He’d usually welcome the comforts, so his sudden aversion was a shock. Not that he let it show.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “It was his first time and I let him think that it was mine too. I’m a shitty person.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Even if I’m not I only did it because I got the idea in my head that if he knew we’d had sex then he’d be angry at me for hanging out with you. It’s easier to just let people think our relationship was dumb cute kid thing.”

But it wasn’t some dumb cute kid thing. He wanted to say that so bad, but he knew it wouldn’t help. Even if it wasn’t that, Jordan broke up with him because he thought he had feelings for him. But that was without the added factor of sex.

Maybe Tweek wasn’t being irrational.

“Well, don’t tell him if you don’t want to. You don’t have to,” he said.

He started to tug on his hair. If he hadn’t already known he didn’t want to be touched, he would’ve gone to calm him down. “I shouldn’t think too much about it,” he muttered. “It’s already done.” He lowered his hand to his side. Hopefully that meant he’d learnt how to calm himself down.

He nodded. “Right,” he said. “And now,” he stood up and clapped his palms together. “We should focus on the fact we’re in Vegas. Which means it’s time to have some fun.”

He smiled at him and nodded. “Right,” he said. “That’s all I need to focus on.”

* * *

Telling Logan he was going to be spending Spring Break with his friends was surprisingly easy. Tweek was forward about the situation, since the whole sex thing was still weighing on his conscience. If it was too late to be honest about that hone he might as well be open about everything else.

Of course, there was the fact he hadn’t necessarily told him that he and Craig were still really close. That was another thing on his conscience. Typically, sleeping in the same bed as Craig would be nothing. That was a normal thing for them. But for some reason all he could think about was that it was somehow cheating. He wasn’t sure whether or not he was being irrational, but if he was going to continue with being honest with Logan, and not lie by omission, he didn’t like the thought of telling him he’d slept in the same bed with his friend who was also gay. They hadn’t had a fight yet, and he was going to hold off on one for as long as possible. And it wasn’t going to be about Craig if he could help it.

Vegas so far had been fun. He’d been managing his anxiety as best he could, and was doing his best to not let it show too Craig. Craig got really touchy when his anxiety would rise, and he remembered how angry that had made Jordan. He didn’t want a repeat with his own boyfriend.

Craig had never said his relationship broke off due to jealousy. But Tweek made the conclusion on his own. One time he’d been hanging out with Craig, Jordan, and Jordan’s friends and a slasher movie had been the chosen watch. His only way home had been with Jordan and Craig, so he’d spent the night fighting off an anxiety attack since he didn’t want to be a buzzkill. He hid it okay enough, but Craig kept putting his hand on his back in attempt to comfort him subtly. It helped, it always did. But Jordan had caught it one time and had given him an icy look. That look came into his mind whenever Craig touched him now.

He knew it wasn’t cheating but he wasn’t sure if Logan would know that. He didn’t want to risk that or let it ruin their relationship, or his friendship with Craig. Being a little touchy was fine if they were single but it felt unfaithful when he wasn’t. It wouldn’t make sense if he’d tried to explain it to Craig so he was thankful he’d stopped by his body language alone.

That didn’t stop him from wanting to spend time with him. The purpose of this trip was so all of them could take a break from their lives. He’d been overworked and despite his bank account looking nicer with each passing week, it was barely worth it. He wasn’t sure what his action plan was once he had enough to live out of home but he figured he could work it out later.

There was only one real downside to the trip though. Between Tweek and Craig, and Clyde, Jimmy, and Token, their interests lied in very different places.

“I think there’s a strip club nearby,” Clyde said, looking down at his phone. “About a five minute walk.”

Craig scrunched his nose. “Uh, no dude. I don’t want to go to a strip club.”

“Me either,” Tweek nodded. “The mere idea creeps me out.”

“Dude, we’re in Vegas, there’s gonna be strip clubs,” Token said.

“We don’t have to _go_ ,” Craig said. “The purpose of this trip was so we could hang out.”

“Well, two against two, Jimmy?” Clyde turned to him, waiting for an answer.

“I vote st-st-st-strip club t-t-too.”

Tweek held back a groan while Craig actually did. He turned to him and said, “How about you and I go to a gay bar instead?”

He smiled at him and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds way better.”

“Fine, we’ll split for this night and this night only then,” Clyde said.

“Deal,” Craig grinned.

Once they’d split off, Craig pulled out his phone and searched for the closest bar that’ll let them in if they don’t drink. It wasn’t the first time they’d gone to one, there’d been a time in senior year they used fake ID’s – acquired from Cartman not so surprisingly – but they had got caught since it was an over 21 bar.

Craig’s tongue was poking out as he tapped on his phone. That happened a lot when he was concentrating. He’d really noticed it when they’d started dating. It’d always been something he’d quietly loved about him.

“Okay, there’s a bar about a mile from here we can walk to,” Craig said, looking back up at him.

He nodded and smiled. “Nice, lead the way.”

As they walked to the bar, the scenery seemed to change with it. They may as well had been walking on a rainbow pathway as everything, even the people, changed. There’d seemed to be more glitter and less drunken gamblers the closer they got.

When they got into the bar, the back of their hands were stamped to indicate they couldn’t have any alcohol. They really should’ve expected that something was going to prevent any alcohol consumption.

When they stepped in and saw how crowded it was, Craig offered his arm before they stepped into the crowd. Tweek took it without another thought. It would be too easy to lose each other in this crowd, and Tweek could see himself having a panic attack if he couldn’t find him.

“We can probably get Coke at the bar,” Craig said against his ear, even then it was hard to hear him. Tweek held on tightly onto his arm and nodded and they made their way to the bar. The music felt like it was pulsing throughout the room. Tweek didn’t even remember prom being this loud. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. But he definitely didn’t like the crowd.

They got a coke each, and Tweek noticed Craig stare at the bartender for a few moments.

“You into him?” he asked when the bartender went to help another person.

He shook his head. “He’s kind of cute,” he said. “But if I’ve learnt anything at college, it’s that I don’t like sleeping with people I don’t know.”

“Have you bothered to?” Because Craig was a decisive person, and he’d make opinions without much influence.

“No,” he said. “But I haven’t really had the opportunity. And I have like three friends at college.”

“Any of them then?”

“Two are dating each other and the other is someone I see as a friend,” he shrugged. “I don’t know if I’m even looking for a boyfriend. After Jordan, I think I’m better off letting love come to me than the other way around.”

A smile pulled on his lips. “Right, because love doesn’t follow a plan.”

He stared at him for a few moments and laughed. “You asshole.”

“What? I’m not wrong.”

He playfully hit his arm. “I guess you’re not wrong. You and I weren’t planned or anything, but it still went ten times better than me and Jordan.”

“Well, you know to not use dating apps at least.”

“Yep,” he nodded. “I can go back to looking at naked torsos on Grindr.”

“Truely a highlight of our high school years.”

They smiled at each other and got off the bar to one of the tables to sit at. Tweek still held onto Craig’s arm as he navigated them to a table. It wasn’t as crowded as the dance floor but damn how did anyone stay near their friends in this place?

The closeness did make him wonder how people read their relationship. What if it looked like they were a couple? What if he was in the background of someones Instagram story and it was seen by someone who knew Logan, and then Logan would call him and accuse him of cheating and–

“Just here seems good,” Craig said, sitting down at a booth, Tweek letting go of his arm.

Tweek quickly sat across from him, which would definitely be read as platonic. But then that could mean some guys would come up to them and what if there were guys who took rejection badly and–

“Dude, you’re shaking,” he frowned. “Is this too much for you?”

He took a deep breath, realising his hands were tugging on his hair. He really had to figure out how to work on his anxiety on his own.

“I’m fine,” he said. “How long do you want to stay?”

He shrugged. “Maybe not too late, that’s usually when drunk assholes come out.”

He nodded. “What, you party a lot at college?”

He snorted. “No way. I tend to aim for the low key stuff. There’s not much to do unless you dance, and you know I hate dancing.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I remember. Just like at prom.”

“Hey, it’s not like you wanted to dance either.”

“Fair.” He tapped his fingers on his glass. “Prom was still pretty fun despite that.”

He smiled. “You definitely made it worth going. I think Jordan would’ve gotten angry at me if I didn’t dance. He was like that.”

He frowned. “Jordan was a dick.”

“You’re telling me,” he muttered. “I don’t even know why I stayed with him for as long as I did.”

He bit his lip, letting his mind wonder to Logan.

Logan was a good boyfriend as far as he could tell. The only person he had him to compare to was Craig, which wasn’t a fair comparison. Maybe that was why he’d been excusing his dismissal of anxiety. It was easier than expecting he’d know how to handle said situations.

He’d tried to actually talk to him about his anxiety and why he wasn’t just being shy or nervous. But he never could. Sometimes he wondered if he’d known him in elementary school if he’d have been one of the people who called him a spaz.

“How’re you and Logan going?” Craig asked, breaking his thoughts. “Just generally speaking.”

He bit his lip. “He good, he comes over during the weekends a lot and I go to DU to see him. And Clyde too sometimes.”

He smiled and nodded. “That’s sweet,” he said. “Your parents met him yet?”

“Oh yeah,” he said and laughed. “If I’m not careful they might sneak pictures of us onto Instagram.”

Craig snorted. “Please don’t remind me of their shit.”

“Yeah, they’re terrible,” he said and sighed. “I’m trying to save to move out. Don’t know where I’ll go yet though.”

“’S long as it’s out of that shithole, huh?” he suggested.

He nodded. “Yeah, probably somewhere in Denver or something. As long as it’s out of there and out of that shitty coffee place. If I’m gonna have to run it when they retire, I want at least some time away from it.”

“You could always sell it,” he suggested with a shrug.

He sighed. “If only. Maybe I could burn it down.”

“Okay,” he laughed. “Maybe avoid arson, dude.”

“Well, I’ll need to do something that insures I never have to run it. Unless I get a husband who doesn’t mind being stuck running a shitty coffee place.”

“What about baking? You still bake right?”

“Yes, but it might not be the best since I’m not a qualified baker.”

“Is that what you want to do? Bake?”

He nodded, downing his coke. “Yeah. But at least I can kind of do it at my parents’ place.”

“Why can’t you just go to school to become a qualified baker?”

“I can’t afford it. I’m pretty sure my parents would’ve kicked me out of the house by now if I didn’t provide cheap labour, or could easily be made to taste test everything.”

“Well, you’ve got a lot of years. You’ll probably get out.”

“Arson’s still an option though.”

* * *

Thankfully on their second night, the guys didn’t suggest a strip club again. The rest of the week was focussed on events that college students flocked to. Which meant a lot of alcohol, which was far from a problem to Craig.

However, there was a problem with keeping tabs on one another. Jimmy tried getting into the crowd but the assholes there had no courtesy for him. Then there was the fact that Clyde ended up getting so drunk it took Craig and Token to get him back to the hotel room.

Tweek was still adverse to the crowds, opting to instead stay around restaurants and cafés. Craig would probably hang around him if he hadn’t been so worried about about making sure nothing happened to Clyde. Token could barely handle him on his own and he wasn’t going to live him high and dry.

Craig still wasn’t sure if he liked partying. ‘Nice and boring’ was his typical motto. He’d much prefer to be back with Tweek, probably splitting a muffin and laughing about their friends’ antics.

Clyde almost vomiting on a girl he was flirting with reminded him why he couldn’t just stay with Tweek at all times.


	21. Chapter 21

Craig passed his first year of college, but just barely. He’d been breezing through his classes without much thought but once exams came around, he’d realised he maybe didn’t understand everything as much as he thought he did. So he’d spent every bit of free time studying and revising and making notes and doing the best he could to not fail out of all of his classes.

He knew college would be hard but maybe he should’ve thought about his major’s classes ahead of time. Tricia used to tease him and say he was probably not smart enough to do a science major but he’d just ignored her. But now he knew for sure; he was probably not smart enough to do a science major. But it was too late to quit now. He’d already taken out a lot of loans and he wasn’t going to spend any extra time there by changing his major. His family couldn’t even afford one semester for him and he’d be drowning in debts the second he graduated.

He didn’t bring up his qualms to anyone. He passed and even though it was mostly C’s, it was still a pass.

Maybe summer would be best spent getting ahead in his classes. But the mere thought of that exhausted him. He wanted to just forget about college entirely for a few months. Spend time with friends, be with his family, forget about the stress he’d dealt with for weeks.

The second he got home he sent a message to the group chat to let the guys know. Jimmy and Token wouldn’t be home yet but hopefully he, Tweek, and Clyde would have time to catch up in the mean time.

After dropping his things off at home – giving Tricia a hug and hid his surprise when he saw she was still hanging out with Karen – he went straight to Tweek Bros.. Clyde had texted him to tell him he and his dad had gone to the cemetery and would see him later in the day. Apparently it was the first thing he always did when he got home.

When he got to Tweek Bros. surprisingly Tweek wasn’t behind the counter. Richard was, so he went up to him instead.

“Oh hey there, Craig,” he smiled. “Coffee?”

“No thanks,” he said. “Just looking for Tweek.”

“Oh he’s out with his boyfriend,” he said. “I’m sure if you text him he’ll let you know where he is.”

That was not what he’d expected. Tweek knew he was coming home today and if he was going to be spending time with Logan, he probably would’ve told him. Shouldn’t this guy be back in his hometown?

He pulled out his phone and texted Tweek with a smiling emoji that he was home and that he wanted to see him. He watched his screen, waiting for a few moments for him to reply. Right when the three dots started to flash, the door of Tweek Bros. opened loudly, swinging opened and closed so loud, Craig looked up from his phone and when he saw who it was, he held back a groan.

“Where the fuck is that faggy spaz?” Cartman asked, eyes angrily shifting around the café.

“What the fuck?” Craig asked, wholly caught off guard by his aggression.

He got an accusatory finger in response. “That spaz of a boyfriend of yours–”

“You know full well he’s not my boyfriend.”

“–Turned Kenny into one of _you_ ,” he spat in his face, pointing an accusatory finger at him. “I mean, Butters was always obviously a fag but _Kenny_? The man is the straightest person I know–”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Craig cut him off, noticing some customers looking their way. “Outside, first off.” He pointed to the door and for once, Cartman listened. When they stepped outside, Craig had those two seconds to actually process what Cartman had said.

So, apparently Butters and Kenny were… queer? He’d gotten so used to him and Tweek being the only queer kids in their school that the thought of not only someone else their age was also queer, but it was someone he actually knew was kind of a shock to him.

“What were you screaming about?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Cartman glared at him and shoved his phone in his face. “Haven’t you been on Instagram.”

He was going to tell him he’d just gotten off a plane but instead, he got distracted by the image that was thrown in his face.

It was Butters and Kenny, which in theory wasn’t absurd. But what made his different was how they were posed in the picture.

It was on Kenny’s account, which he only recently got after he was able to save enough money to buy a very used and very crappy smart phone. In the picture, Butters was hugging Kenny from behind, and was pressing his lips to Kenny’s cheek. Kenny was grinning into the camera, leaning into the kiss. There was another picture to slide to, and he flicked Cartman’s phone, ignoring his yell as he did, and saw that the next picture was the same position but the kiss was on the lips. The caption had nothing more than a smiling emoji from Kenny, and Butters leaving a heart in the comments. Judging by the thirteen comments, it was their coming out post.

He blinked, unsure of what to say. Kenny always came across as the typical straight dude, and Butters’ preference was not something he’d bothered to think about. Although, that wasn’t what his mind was focussing on. “Okay, and why are you blaming Tweek?”

“Because Kenny said he’d asked him for advice right before he’d asked out Butters. He influenced him with this bullshit.”

Craig’s jaw clenched. “Yeah, this conversation is over,” he said and turned his back to him and walked down the sidewalk. He didn’t have a particular destination, he just wanted to get away from the asshole. Was he really going to chew Tweek out for Kenny and Butters dating? Did this guy really think that Kenny just wouldn’t have figured it out at another time?

In his frustration, he felt the weight of his own phone in his pocket and he remembered that Tweek was replying to him when Cartman distracted him.

He pulled out his phone, fully prepared to see a location to meet him. But he frowned when he saw the response.

Tweek: _hey sorry. Logan’s flight it super late so I’m spending the day with him before he leaves tonight. I’ll see you soon though!_

Okay, that was a fair reason to not be here to greet him when he got home. He still felt some disappointment over it. He was surprised he hadn’t even offered the chance to meet him. Surely he’d get the chance to do that before he left right? Maybe he could go with Clyde, that was a pretty good excuse.

He pulled up his messages to Clyde and typed away.

Craig: _heyyyyy I want to meet this Logan guy. You want to come?_

Clyde: _you can’t go alone?_

Craig: _ur the one who knows him_

Clyde: _lmao fine. Me and dad are already driving home. Meet you at yours_

He smiled to himself and made his way home.

* * *

Karen was still there when he got home, this time not locked in Tricia’s room but parked in front of the TV. He wasn’t sure what they were watching but Tricia had explained that she had gotten Karen into some shows and since the McCormick’s didn’t have Netflix they had to marathon here.

“You’re back already?” she asked, giving a confused look. “I thought you were going to hang out with Tweek?”

He shrugged and sat on the couch. “He’s hanging out with his boyfriend. Clyde’s coming over so we can meet up with them though.”

“Tweek has a boyfriend?” Tricia asked, tiling her head to the side.

He nodded. “For a while.”

“Hm, okay,” she shrugged and turned back to the TV.

He turned to the TV, half watching it. He had no idea what was going on and didn’t care to follow since Clyde would be there soon anyway.

“Does it bug you?” Tricia asked. “Tweek having a boyfriend?”

He turned his head to her. “No, why?”

She shrugged. “I mean, you are exes and all.”

“That was a long time ago,” he said. “And if you recall I did have another boyfriend for a while.”

“I know, I was just asking.”

He rolled his eyes and turned to his phone, seeing that there was a text from Clyde telling him he’d be there soon. That was enough motivation to get off the couch and wait for him outside.

* * *

The first thing Craig noticed when he saw Tweek with his boyfriend was that he didn’t get a hug hello. Tweek without fail had hugged him every time he’d gotten home. Sure it was only two times but this third time stood out.

Logan was clearly the kind of guy who liked to have constant touch of their significant other. He constantly held Tweek’s hand or kept an arm slung over his shoulders.

Craig really wasn’t sure what to make of him. He mostly talked to Clyde and Tweek, though he did talk to him a little. But there wasn’t much to say when they’d just met and Tweek and Clyde made up for his silence anyway.

He studied how Tweek looked. How he reacted to being with Logan. He seemed pretty happy. He didn’t display much PDA, so that answered any questions around whether or not he liked displaying affection around friends. He just comfortably sat while Logan kept his arm over his shoulders while they sat at City Wok. Tweek had told him that it was where he and Logan had had their second date there. He wasn’t sure exactly why he remembered such a pointless detail but it was the first thing in his mind when they entered the restaurant.

It was about halfway through their food when Craig decided to change the conversation and try to be included – and leave Logan out of it. It was the only piece of information he could think of and really, it was just gossiping. But it came out before he stopped himself.

“Hey, Tweek, Clyde, have you seen Kenny’s Instagram?” he asked after quickly pulling up the post on his phone. He hadn’t liked it, much less commented on it. But it was a good subject change, especially when Logan and Clyde started talking about classes and Logan mentioned his ever so perfect grades. What a dickhead.

“No,” Clyde said frowning as Tweek gave him a curious look.

“Yeah, what’s on his Instagram?” Tweek asked.

He set his phone on the table and Clyde and Tweek leaned in to look at it. Clyde’s jaw dropped and Tweek’s brows drew together.

“No!” Clyde gasped. “Wait, is this real?”

He nodded. “Totally real dude.”

Tweek was still staring at the phone, his brows furrowing together. “Wait… _Butters_ was who Kenny had a crush on?”

He smiled, putting his phone back in his pocket. “So I’m guessing that has to do with why Cartman was ready to scream at you for turning him gay?”

He smiled. “Dude had a sexuality crisis,” he explained. “Said he liked a friend but really? I didn’t expect Butters.”

That must’ve been said advice Cartman had mentioned. He figured it made sense for Kenny to go to Tweek. If there was no one else to talk to then going to him seemed expected.

“I think they win most unexpected couple,” Craig laughed. He almost added “aside from us” and he would’ve if Logan wasn’t there. There was no telling how he would react and if he didn’t know he was the fourth grade ex, he didn’t want to accidentally cause any drama.

“Definitely,” Clyde nodded. “He hadn’t even really cared about any of the girls I’ve brought back lately.”

“Well, he did say he thought he was bisexual so I think Butters is more the reason for that,” Tweek shrugged.

“Well, I, for one, am looking forward to giving them shit for it,” Craig laughed. “I’m sick of this town only having like three queer people.”

“And that includes us.”

“Exactly.”

Logan, who had been mostly silent and unresponsive, gave him a curious look. He didn’t say anything but the look itself made it obvious that he had definitely known they were exes.

It was never brought up during lunch, and Clyde ended up rambling about how he was thinking about joining a fraternity which eased the conversation on easily when Craig told him all frat guys were douchebags.

* * *

“So, that Craig guy,” Logan said clearing his throat as Clyde and Craig went home in the other direction.

Tweek frowned. “What about him?” He’d done his best all day to not show how close they actually were. He didn’t hug him when he saw him, even though he wanted to. He knew it confused Craig, hell Clyde seemed confused too, but it was for the best. The idea of hugging another guy, especially as tightly as he would, in front of Logan felt like cheating. Especially if he did it at all like the way he’d done it when he saw him at Christmas. He hadn’t occurred to him until Logan was right next to him.

“Uh, it’s just that you said you only had like, one queer friend around here. And you also mentioned that boy you dated when you were ten?”

Oh. It was about that. Of course it was about that.

“I mean, yeah. Craig is that kid. But we were friends for ages before we’d dated.” He couldn’t help but feel the need to defend himself and their friendship. His and Craig’s relationship wasn’t something he took lightly. He was his first crush. His first relationship. His first kiss. The first guy he had sex with. His first everything. But he was also his best friend. Them breaking up didn’t break that.

He wasn’t sure if Logan felt threatened by the parts he knew alone, but the rest would make it worse for sure.

“Okay, whatever,” he shrugged. “I just didn’t expect you two to be friends.”

He narrowed his eyes at him. “Is that a problem?” His tone was harsh. He’d tried warding off them having a fight because of Craig but goddamnit, he didn’t like what he was doing. It wasn’t fair.

He got an eye roll in response. “Quit being dramatic. You only dated as little kids, it doesn’t mean anything.”

He felt his face go red with anger. He wanted to tell him that no, the relationship didn’t mean nothing. He wanted to try and explain how important his relationship to Craig was to him and why it would continue to be important. He wanted to scream at him, to yell at him, to prove him wrong. For him to not dismiss past feelings that Tweek held dearly. Feelings of Craig being the only person to make him feel worth anything. Feelings that made everything make sense to why he’d never cared about girls and why he’d replayed the I Don’t Dance number in High School Musical 2 so much. He really wanted to do that.

But he was also offering a way to end the argument. To not continue to yell at each other when he had to catch his flight really soon.

So he held back as a sigh and nodded. “Yeah, exactly. Now come on, we only have my house so ourselves for so long.”


	22. Chapter 22

Tweek was busy taking Logan to the airport in his parents car and Clyde’s dad wanted to have more family time – give it to the single father to smother his kid – so on his first night home, Craig was friendless.

The only request of his parents was to eat dinner but aside from that, the didn’t really expect him to stay in. And he didn’t necessarily want to but all he could really do was watch Netflix all night. He might as well gorge on food as he did.

He walked to the supermarket and skimmed the shelves for snacks. Maybe he could stock up for another movie nights. He grabbed a pack of Mini M&M’s since he knew that was always a favourite.

“ _Shit fucker_.”

He blinked. The supermarket was mostly empty at this time so the sound echoed across the aisles. He stared across the empty aisles, but was only met with silence. He frowned and turned back to the shelves. Maybe he should get Reese’s Cups too.

“ _Soggy cunt_.”

He blinked, this time realising the voice came from the next aisle. He bit his lip. There were few people in South Park who would be shouting swears in the middle of a supermarket.

He went to the next aisle and peaked around. Alone in the aisle was someone who he hadn’t seen since he was pulled out of school in fifth grade and his mom wouldn’t let anyone into their house. Someone he actually became pretty good friends with until he’d been made to switch to homeschooling and most said had become a hermit.

“Thomas? Is that you?”

Thomas turned to him, his face pale. His brows drew together for a few moments before his eyes widened. “Craig?”

He smiled and stepped closer to him. “Hey dude, it’s been too long.”

He stared at him for a moment. “Uh yeah, _fuck_ , it has. I think you were still dating that twitchy blond kid when we last hung out.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I think I was,” he laughed. “So what’ve you been up to?”

“Uh, well, I _shitass_ moved to Denver,” he said. “Doing online school. Work in construction but hoping that I’d get some at home job in graphic design. _Fucker_. What about you?”

“Doing Astronomy in Florida,” he said. “Just got home today.”

“So I’m guessing you’ve got better things to do?”

“Uh, no, actually,” he shrugged. “Only two of my friends are in and both of them are busy.”

“Oh,” he cleared his throat. “Well, I’m just in to see my parents _faggot cocksucker_.”

Craig wasn’t sure what his reaction must’ve looked like, but Thomas’s hand slapped over his mouth as his face turned red. True, Craig knew that the tics caused less than favourable things to come out of his mouth. Swearing itself never caught him off guard, and slurs typically didn’t either – he’d dealt with them from Cartman enough. But he did flinch this time. Even though he knew it was just the tics, he had flinched and that wouldn’t help Thomas feel comfortable.

“I’m sorry,” Thomas sputtered out. “I’m not–”

“Whoa, it’s fine,” Craig assured, holding his palms out. “I know it’s just your tics.”

“No, I mean, yes it’s the tics but, _motherfucker shitballs_ , I’m uh– I’m bi, so that wasn’t some vicious homophobic, _cock_ , attack or anything like that _fuck_.”

He stared at him and slowly nodded. He was never sure if the ways he’d comfort Tweek when his anxiety got bad would help Thomas. “Look, it’s cool, I remember how bad your tics are.”

That seemed to calm him down and he nodded with a smile. His stomach kind of fluttered at it.

His mind went back to the comment Tweek had made about how he had a crush on him. He hadn’t thought about it too much since then but now he was having second thoughts.

Thomas was actually kind of cute. He was still pretty high strung but he remembered liking him when he was younger because he thought it was cool he could get away with swearing so much. Then he found out he liked Red Racer and they became great friends through it since he had all of the seasons of DVD. There was a period where he would go to his house and spend all day marathoning them.

Okay, maybe Tweek might’ve been a little right about him having some sort of crush on him. At least a smidge of a crush. Although he wasn’t going to let Tweek convince him he had a thing for blonds. He was cute because… well, he was cute. Not necessarily because he was a blond.

And apparently he was bi too. Add him to people he hadn’t thought would end up being queer. He really had to talk to Kenny and Butters soon about their situation. Despite his surprise about the new development, he was happy to know there were at least three less straight people in this shitty town now.

“So, uh, were you heading home or anything?”

He bit his lip and nodded. “Just getting some food for the road,” he said.

“What’s your place like?” He wasn’t sure what exactly promoted that sort of question. Was it a pathetic attempt at flirting? Would he even be into that?

“Oh, uh, it’s just a tiny studio apartment, _shit_ ” he shrugged. “Like a half hour away by car.”

He nodded. “Nice,” he said. “I’ve got roommates, so I’m guessing a studio would mean you’re on your own?”

“Yeah, although it gets kind lonely _cock_ sometimes.” A beat passed and he bit his lip. “ Unless you wanna keep me company. Catch up more.”

Unless he was reading the situation wrong, that was definitely an invitation to do… something together. And nothing in him was saying he should say no. Although, he would be the first person he’d had sex with since Tweek. He still didn’t feel like he was a casual person, but Thomas was… well, Thomas. The idea didn’t feel casual. Even if it was this one time…

“Sure,” he nodded and he saw relief flash his eyes.

* * *

Craig left as soon as Thomas fell asleep. He quietly picked up his clothes, ignoring the smell of sweat and sex all over his body, patted his jeans pockets to find his phone and wallet, and carefully closed the front door behind him. He decided an Uber would be the best way home. It was already past midnight and that with the smells and his definitely messy hair should indicate how he’d spent his night.

He’d decided that that night wasn’t a bad idea. It definitely wouldn’t happen again, and he didn’t really want to date him (mostly because dating a guy with his dad’s name was just plain weird). Though he wasn’t sure if the tics turned him more than it should’ve. But who would be surprised by that? He had a crush on him because of it after all.

But was he really boyfriend material? Not really. He wasn’t sure if he was just caught up in seeing him again. Or if he was just desperate to do something with someone. It was like those past feelings he’d only realised were there were some sort of excuse to do it.

The Uber pulled up and thankfully it was somebody who didn’t make him talk. He attributed it to the stone cold glare he gave him when he asked if he’d had a fun night. He hadn’t given Thomas his number so hopefully he won’t try and contact him. He knew that maybe leaving when he fell asleep wasn’t the best thing he could do, but he was still new to it and he knew it’d eventually happen to him. It wasn’t like Thomas said he’d wanted anything out of it anyway.

He still wasn’t sure if that made him an asshole or not.


	23. Chapter 23

“Do anything fun last night?” Tweek asked, idly watching the TV as Craig played the Spiderman game. Since the game was only on PS4 they had both laughed to everyone who had an Xbox One, specifically Clyde, and loved SpiderMan but chose the wrong side during their PS4 vs Xbox One war.

“I guess,” Craig mumbled. “I ran into Thomas yesterday.”

He shot up straight in his seat. “Wait? Tourettes dude?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes,” he muttered. “He was in seeing his family but he lives in Denver.”

He crossed his legs and turned to him. “So, anything interesting happen?”

He looked at him for the corner of his eye. “Apparently he’s bi.”

“So…”

“Oh shut it,” he laughed. It was his classic, dry, nasty laugh. A laugh that he’d been smitten with since he was ten. “We may or may not have slept together.”

“Seriously? Did you finally realise your fat gay crush on him?”

He snorted. “Yes, you win there. But it wasn’t because he’s blond.”

“So are you going to see him again?” It’d make sense. He used to hang out with him a lot before he was pulled out of school. It was to the point Cartman made a remark about how he probably liked him more than him. Said remarked caused him to be grounded for a month.

“No,” he shook his head. “For one thing, having sex with someone who has your dads name is super weird. Not about to scream that during sex.”

“Fair.”

“But, I don’t know. I guess I don’t see him exactly like that? Not anymore at least. Besides, I left when he fell asleep so I doubt he’d want to see me again.”

He frowned. “Damn, since when were you that guy?”

“Not my proudest moment. But I don’t know, he might’ve kicked me out in the morning. It was either or.”

He rested his head against the couch. “Yeah I guess,” he mumbled.

“Mhm,” he mumbled. “So, Logan get home okay?”

He swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat. “Yeah.” He had texted him that morning that he was home. Tweek acted like he hadn’t seen it. Spending the next day with the guy that might mean a little more to him than his own boyfriend.

He really had to stop feeling guilt over that. It was draining at that point. He’d overthought so much last night at dinner that he ended up hating it. Craig bringing up the Kenny and Butters thing was a saving grace because it was the one thing Logan couldn’t supply much thoughts on. He barely had any queer friends of his own, so he couldn’t even add an anecdote about his own friends coming out.

He felt like he should feel sad about their relationship currently being long distance but he couldn’t find a reason to care. He wasn’t sure if that made him a bad person but after Logan dismissing any small bit of anxiety he’d shown, he didn’t really want to care.

He’d hidden enough panic attacks from him because he knew that would make him realise his anxiety wasn’t some cute quirk and was actually something serious. He knew comparing him to Craig’s ability to comfort him wasn’t fair but goddamnit, he should know dismissing how he felt wasn’t going to help him.

He turned back to the TV, figuring that would be a good distraction. He’d always loved watching him play video games. Even if they were just lazily hanging around all day, it was fun. They had each other’s company. Even when they were dating they’d called it a date and share a bowl of oreos. He used to end up falling asleep with his head in Craig’s lap when he got too tired to stay up anymore while he continued to play, switching to headphones so he won’t keep him up.

He missed those days. When things were so much easier and they weren’t trapped in these kind of complications. Where he didn’t have to think about how he had made his boyfriend think he was a virgin and failed to mention he’d had dinner with the other guy he’d had sex with.

It was one thing to not tell him, it was another to put him right in front of him when Craig was the only person who knew about the lie. He knew Craig wouldn’t tell him, hell Craig thought he’d done nothing wrong. Craig almost put him on a pedestal, or maybe just knew the best ways to comfort him. He appreciated it either way.

He watched him as he played, his tongue sticking out in concentration. It reminded him of the time he watched him play Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate when they’d first started dating. He’d watched him play video games before but that was typically in a group setting. That time had been just the two of them, and it was the first time the butterflies in his stomach had been so intense. Or he probably had just started to really notice them.

He bit his lip and turned back to the TV before Craig noticed he was staring.

* * *

The second Craig saw Kenny and Butters out in the streets, he couldn’t stop himself from going up on them. He was out with Tweek since he felt like going somewhere else for his lunch break and wanted some company. Craig hadn’t seen him at all in his time home but he definitely wanted to acknowledge it to their faces instead of on Instagram.

“Wow, I think I found a more unlikely couple than Tweek and me circa fourth grade,” he laughed, and he saw Tweek smile from the corner of his eye.

“Oh shut up, Tucker,” Kenny rolled his eyes. He was holding Butters hand, who seemed to be grinning ear to ear.

“So obviously you worked things out?” Tweek asked, looking between them.

He nodded. “Certified pansexual,” he said.

“And I’m just super gay,” Butters said. “Only Kenny, Stan, Kyle, and Eric knew at first. I told my parents before we put it on Instagram.”

If Craig remembered Butters parents correctly, he’d hoped they had taken it well. Or not as badly as they possibly could have.

“Well that’s cool,” Craig said. “This town needs more queer people.”

“No kidding,” Kenny muttered. “Anyway, I don’t think we’re that more surprising than when you two dated, at least to our ten year old brains.”

Maybe they were both just as equally surprising. Craig had only assumed Kenny was straight because he came across like every other straight guy in school. Pansexual was definitely a step up.

“Well, we can share people’s shock,” he smiled. “Speaking of shock, Cartman isn’t giving you too much shit?”

Kenny snorted. “He is but Cartman’s an asshole.”

“Eric isn’t that bad,” Butters replied, frowning at him.

“Uh, he did storm into my families coffee place screaming about me turning Kenny queer or something,” Tweek said, turning to Craig. “What exactly did he say?”

“Specifically he said ‘one of you’. I think he was ready to fight Tweek or something.” Cartman was a real asshole, he really did wonder why Butters put up with him so much. He needed to stand up to him like that time he was actually kind of a badass and then went to Hawaii for a reason he didn’t care enough to find out.

“Okay. Yeah. He’s a jerk,” Butters said, almost in a tone of defeat. “But everyone else has been great. Other than being pretty shocked after the Instagram post.”

Craig and Tweek both laughed. They were both too familiar with the shock of coupling. The couple in front of them were among the people who had been gaping in surprise as they had walked around school hand in hand. That was definitely the small town culture, especially when most of their classmates only exposure to queer couples was Big Gay Al and Mr Slave as well as whatever the fuck was going on with Garrison and Mr Slave.

But they seemed pretty happy. And after his and Tweek’s relationship, hopefully people would be less shocked to see queer people walking around. Or out queer people at least. Craig was pretty sure more queers were out in the town, somewhere. His cousin Red had only recently come out as a lesbian, there had to be more.

Butters and Kenny gave quick byes since they were off to see a movie and Butters hated being late, and Tweek only had so much time on his break. They walked off in the other direction, their fingers interlocked and swinging their arms back and fourth. Kenny laughed at something Butters mumbled to him and Butters grinned at him.

They did weirdly fit together but he wasn’t about to judge if they didn’t, he was half of the couple who shocked the school.

“So, where should we go for lunch?” Tweek asked, nudging his arm.

He turned to him and shrugged. “Your choice.”


	24. Chapter 24

Summer in South Park was never that fun without company since it was always so cold. When Token and Jimmy got home, they all hung out, mostly seeing movies and playing a lot of video games. It was like they weren’t apart for most of the year and they had been hanging out the whole time. Tweek held onto it for as long as he could before they all left town again. A piece of him felt like he should be looking forward to that time at least a little since it meant Logan would be back. But he still wasn’t sure if he was happy about that.

It wasn’t like they hadn’t been talking though. They’d texted and Skyped a lot, but they could only do it so much since Logan was working and the time difference. Though the latter wasn’t a great excuse since he’d made it work with Craig and the guys. It was nice to talk to him and he usually forgot about any guilt he felt when they were talking. At this point he was definitely acting differently around Craig. He could barely bring himself just to rest his feet in his lap anymore, let alone fall asleep on his shoulder or in close proximity. 

He’d never brought up how he’d avoided it in Vegas as well. The only different variable was Logan. Which he’d been upfront about. He wasn’t sure how he felt about a relationship where he couldn’t act how he’d always had around his best friend. He wasn’t sure if his thoughts were normal when you’re in a relationship. 

He didn’t tell Craig any of this. Or anyone really. He just kept it inside of him, letting it burn until the frustration got too much and he had to scream into his pillow. 

He kept his mind off of things as best his could, focussing on work and watching his bank account go up little by little. There was still the chance he could move into a one room apartment in Denver. He’d had enough to make rent and utilities for a few months, but he wanted to make sure he’d had a job secured first. Finding a job was hard enough, and finding one while his savings dwindled down until it hit $0 and forcing him to move back home wasn’t an ideal situation. 

He did his best to keep his mind off of that stress. Those were worries for another day. 

That night, they were all going to Token’s for a movie night. Since it’d been so long since guys’ night, they had to actually agree on a movie for once instead of letting one choose. On Clyde’s suggestion, they were watching Neighbours. It was a win for Clyde, Token, and Jimmy because they loved bro movie humour, and it was also a win for Craig and Tweek because they liked it too, and Dave Franco and Zac Efron were hot. 

By the time Tweek had gotten there, the rest of the guys were already there. Tweek didn’t bring his thermos because Token had a far better – and far more expensive – coffee maker and coffee beans. Token always let him use it since he made such good coffee to the point Token’s parents always asked him to make cups for them too. 

“Oh cool, you’re here,” Clyde grinned. He looked pretty pleased with himself in that moment. Too pleased. The kind of pleased that meant he was up to something. 

“Hey,” he said. “You guys want coffee?”

“Could you hold that for a second?” 

He frowned. “Why?”

Craig rolled his eyes, his hands stuffed in his pockets. He’d reverted back to wearing his hat, which he seemed pretty pleased about since it was too hot to wear it in Florida. “He invited girls,” he said. 

He raised his brow at him. “And I’m supposed to care about that why exactly?” 

“You’re not,” Clyde shrugged and gestured between him, Jimmy, and Token. “We do.” 

“Okay, but I’m not going to wait for coffee just because you want to get laid,” Tweek shrugged and walked to the kitchen. 

“I’m coming with you,” Craig said, following his pace. “I’m already exhausted with how hetero they are.”

He laughed as Craig came to his side and they stepped into the kitchen. Craig leaned against the counter as Tweek got everything he needed. Tweek knew his order by heart at this point, so he didn’t bother asking. 

“Where does Clyde even find all these girls,” Craig asked, rolling his eyes.

He shrugged as setting up the coffee maker. “Who knows,” he said. “It’s like how he always brings a girl home on the weekends. Usually to brag to Kenny.”

He snorted. “Guessing he’s done with that?” 

“Probably.” 

Craig yawned, stretching his arms over his head. “I can’t wait to be at the point where dating is ten times easier just by virtue of knowing more queer guys.”

Tweek focussed on pouring the milk he steamed into the mug for Craig. “You think that’ll make dating easier?”

“Maybe?” he said, taking the mug from Tweek. “I hope? I mean, I already know some queer people. I’ve gotta like one guy if I know more, right?”

“Sure dude,” he said, getting to making his own coffee. 

When they were back in the living room, three girls were now sitting there with the rest of the guys. They’d seemed to have chosen to group together rather than sit with the rest of the guys. 

“You gonna make more coffee?” Clyde asked, sitting on the floor with his back against the couch. 

“No,” Tweek said, finding a spot on the couch, crossing his legs to his feet were on the couch. He’d already taken off his shoes since Token’s parents had always hated them wearing their shoes inside. “You can make one yourself.”

“I don’t know how to use it though.”

“Oh well.”

Craig laughed and sat next to him, resting his feet on the coffee table. “Token, don’t your parents know how to use it?”

He nodded. “Yeah, but Tweek knows how to make it a lot better than them.”

“Well, I’ve already made coffee and after working as a barista all day I’d like a small break.” He didn’t actually mind making them coffee, but he did it as more of a courtesy. After making one for himself and Craig, he just wanted to relax and watch the movie. 

The girls were whispering in their cluster, and Tweek couldn’t really make out what they were saying. Their tones were really hushed as they looked at him and Craig. 

Clyde did introduce the girls, Jen, Rory, and Nora. Jen was the girl who Clyde had asked out and had offered to bring Rory and Nora with her. Tweek just gave them friendly smiles but didn’t put any energy into actually getting to know them. Jen would last maybe a week, and Nora and Rory would go with her. There was no point making connections. 

Jen sat next to Clyde on the floor, and Nora and Rory sat on the couch with Tweek and Craig. Jimmy claimed the armchair and Token in the beanbag. If Clyde’s plan was that Rory and Nora would pair off with Token and Jimmy, it had definitely failed. Especially since Rory kept giving Craig side glances. 

Tweek was no expert, but she definitely was attempting to flirt with him. Craig could be the type that was oblivious when people were into him. When they were in Vegas, a guy had stared at him for half the night and he didn’t even notice. Tweek just assumed the guy had thought they were a couple and had opted to look instead of try to touch. 

Since this was particularly a girl, he probably won’t even realise she was looking at him. 

He focussed on the movie, and smiled when Dave Franco’s character came onto screen. 

“I know Dave Franco’s kind of meant to be a dick in this but I really like him,” he said, mostly to Craig but loud enough for the group to hear. 

“That’s just because you have a crush on him,” Craig said, playfully nudging him with his elbow. 

He laughed, and was about to make a joke about how he was no different with Zac Efron but Token had loudly shushed them into silence. 

“But his character is so clearly in love with Zac Efron,” Craig whispered to him.

“Well, he does have a whole ass husband in the sequel,” he nodded with a grin. 

Halfway through the movie, Rory was still giving Craig certain looks. Only from the corner of her eye but she was separated from Craig by Nora. He seemed to still have not noticed anything, whispering things about the movie to him from time to time. Rory might as well not even be there. 

Craig wasn’t used to how often Clyde brought girls because it had increased drastically during college, but he seemed to catch on quickly that she and the people she brings will be gone too. Logan was the only person who ever stuck. 

By the time the movie had finished, Jen and Clyde looked ready to pull each other’s clothes off if they didn’t get out soon. Jimmy was slouched in the armchair, and looked vaguely annoyed since he knocked his crutches onto the floor when he laughed too hard at one scene and no one had bothered to pick them up yet. Token seemed like he was about to fall asleep in his beanbag. Tweek was tired himself, and Craig seemed to be too since his body had slouched against his own and he hadn’t pushed him away yet. He didn’t seem to realise the position he was in until the credits started to roll. 

He sat up and stretched his arms over his head. “You want a lift home?” he asked. 

“That’ll be nice,” he nodded and they stood up. 

“Can one of you fellas p-p-please get me my crutches,” Jimmy called. “I’m gonna p-p-p-piss myself soon.”

Charming. “I’ll do it,” Tweek said, just as Token had a mini freak out at the words ‘piss’ as Jimmy was still on his parents arm chair.

“Clyde, still want a lift home?” Craig asked, looking at the display where they flirting had gotten far too handsy. Tweek inwardly gagged. He was ready to just go home. 

“I’m good,” he said, not even looking at him. 

Craig rolled his eyes. “Okay, then.”

Tweek laughed as he handed Jimmy his crutches. When he stood up, he was looking over his shoulder in the direction of the couch. “I think we’re in for a tre- tre- tre-treat.”

He gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?”

He nodded in the same direction. “S-s-s-see for yourself.”

Tweek turned and he saw Rory batting her eyelashes at Craig, gently grabbing his arm before he could walk away. Nora was off to the side on her phone, grinning at the display, clearly for different reasons than why Jimmy was. 

Apparently Rory had decided to do more than flirty sidelooks. 

“Hey, you don’t need to leave so soon,” she said. “We could get to know each other more.”

He blinked at her, clearly not understanding what she was trying to do. And to think he wondered why he didn’t have a boyfriend. 

“Nah, I’m ready to head home,” he shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets and his hat so lopsided his hair was peaking out. 

She fiddled with her hair, curling a part around her finger. “Well, I was wondering if you wanted my number?”

The look of realisation crashed on him so hard it was almost comedic. He gaped at her, and looked from her to Tweek and Jimmy. Jimmy was suppressing a laugh, and Tweek couldn’t stop himself from smiling. He just shrugged at him as a response to the situation as Craig stared at him.

He turned back to Rory, who was still looking expectantly at him. “Uh, I’m gay?” It came out almost as a question, like he’d just expected her to know. He was always annoyed he never got read a gay. Tweek sometimes did, but maybe Craig had just assumed she knew before hand. 

Tweek kind of had too. He assumed every girl Clyde brought home had been told he was gay. Although, Clyde was never the type to prove he was A Great Guy because he had gay friends, so maybe not. What was happening now supported that suspicion. 

Rory definitely didn’t know, as a look of embarrassment passed her face. She looked over at Tweek, what seemed to be realisation on her face. “Oh, wait, are you two…” she trailed off, but it was obvious what she meant. 

Craig watched her for a moment, his expression mostly in a state of annoyance. “No,” he shook his head. 

“Not since sixth grade,” Tweek added, laughing. It was kind of a funny situation, even if only he and Jimmy were laughing. 

Rory looked even more embarrassed after that, and hastily mumbled a sorry before fleeing to Nora who seemed pretty surprised by the situation she just saw.

Jimmy on the other hand was roaring in laughter. Craig seemed pretty unamused by the situation. 

“C’mon Tweek,” he said, removing one hand from his pocket so he could hook his arm around his. “Let’s go.”

Craig was mostly quiet on the walk to the car. He seemed pretty dejected, and Tweek knew that when he got like this to just let him calm down and open up. It was like how Craig knew how to handle his anxiety, Tweek knew whenever Craig was in a mad mood to just wait for him to calm down until he was ready to tell him what was wrong. 

He only seemed to stop tensing once they were in his parent’s car and music started to play from his bluetooth. 

“Do I pass as straight or something?” Craig muttered.

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Like, you know, do I come off as a straight guy or something?” 

He shrugged. “I don’t think I’m the best authority on that, dude.” 

He sighed, long and heavy. “Maybe that’s why I’m still single.”

“Or maybe girls just have incredibly bad gaydars? They think any guy with a lisp is gay.”

“It just gets frustrating, I guess. How did Logan even know you were gay?”

“I think Clyde told him since he was into me. Why?”

“I don’t know, I was just thinking about it.”

He chewed on his lip. “What? Like if people can tell I’m gay?”

“Maybe?” he sighed. “Forget it, I’m just frustrated.”

“Does this happen a lot?” It’d been a while since they’d really talked about Craig’s time at college. Craig wasn’t one to bring up less than great times, but this was the first time they’d even talked about something like this. They’d never experienced it in school because all the girls knew they were gay. You don’t have to wonder if people could tell you were gay by looking at you if they already knew. 

“Sort of. Sometimes girls will be in my dorm and they get a little flirty, but I just ignore them and go to my room. But it’s never been… this. It’s never been a girl just straight up asking me out.”

He nudged his arm gently. “Worse things in the world, right?”

“I guess,” he muttered. “It’d just be easier if people knew I was gay by looking at me.”

“Or they could just not assume everyone was straight,” Tweek suggested. 

“I guess that works too.” There wasn’t much hope in his tone though. 

He pulled up to his house, finally looking at him when he pulled the car in break. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He nodded. “See you.”


	25. Chapter 25

Craig was definitely beyond thankful that he had the option to choose roommates. Instead of taking the chance with the roommate lottery, he and Nathan had decided to room together. Nathan had two random roommates for this first two years and after his second experience being worse than his first, he was desperate to choose a roommate this time. Craig happily jumped at the chance.

Classes were kind of hard to get back into. He’d planned to study and get ahead but he ended up procrastinating to the point he’d ran out of time. He was still where he’d been at the end of the year, lost in his major’s classes and a little less lost with the core he had to do.

Nathan had so far been a better roommate than his previous ones had been. He was neat and not loud and obnoxious. He was also ready for not rooming with someone who brought girls back. Especially since Nathan had told him he got a boyfriend over the Summer and he went to school in California, meaning the most he’d have to deal with was late night Skyping which he’d happily trade for roommates having sex when they thought he was asleep.

His own love life was still pretty stifled. Sleeping with Thomas hadn’t exactly made him more confident in his abilities to hook up with people, nor had it motivated him to flirt with other queer guys on campus. He’d mentioned his woes to Nathan who just laughed, telling him it’ll happen when it happens. At least he didn’t suggest trying dating apps, there was no way he’d do a repeat of it after his bad experience with Jordan.

Sometimes he did think it was because he came across as straight to others. Maybe not when he hung around Nathan, Seth, and Alex but he didn’t see the scenario where a guy approached him at a party happening. He wasn’t sure if he was overreacting but that friend of a the girl Craig had brought for their movie night – a relationship that lasted less than forty-eight hours – flirting with him had messed him up. Maybe he shouldn’t be thinking too much about it, it was the only time it had happened. Maybe he should just invest in some Troye Sivan shirts and never take them off.

He’d finished setting up his dorm before Nathan had. Nathan was a huge fan of decorating, and was far better at it than he was. He’d even brought a rainbow flag to pin to the wall, which Craig had decided was his favourite touch.

“You into video games at all?” Craig asked, gesturing to his PS4 set up. He’d never thought to ask, and he didn’t mind sharing it if they were sharing the space already.

“Kind of,” he shrugged. “I was a Pokemon kid at least.”

“We all were, dude,” he laughed.

“Also loved the Sims when I was a kid,” he continued. “I once got grounded from it when I was eleven because I was making guys kiss.”

He laughed, maybe a little too hard. “Well at least you were always playing the Sims correctly.”

“Exactly, what’s the point of the Sims if you don’t make all of them gay?” He moved to look at the game’s he’d had. “Someone’s an Assassin’s Creed fan.”

He nodded. “Love it,” he said and picked up Assassin’s Creed Odessy. “You can be gay in this one too.”

“Sweet. Too bad I suck at those sort of games.”

“So does my friend Tweek, but he used to always watch me play.” He had memories of Tweek watching him play Syndicate when they’d started dating. It made him happy to remember those easier days. “We’d spent ages trying to convince our friends that Leonardo Da Vinci was in love with Ezio.”

“Well, I don’t know who this Ezio guy is,” Nathan said. “But Leonardo Da Vinci was definitely gay no matter what straight scholars say.”

“I mean yeah, that’s just obvious.”

…

Tweek wouldn’t say he knew a lot but he knew three things for sure.

1\. You should be excited to see your significant other if you hadn’t in multiple months  
2\. One would greet that person with a hug and a kiss  
3\. In a happy relationship, you wouldn’t feel a sense of dread when you were going to see the person

The thing was, seeing Logan again didn’t make him feel happiness. Instead of the feeling of excitement and watching to clock while he was at work, he asked his dad if there was any overtime or other tasks he could do. He only got a raised brow and asked him if he’d remembered Logan was coming today. He had just idly nodded and told him he could wait. At least his procrastination got him overtime money.

Clyde had made the effort to text him that Logan had gotten back, and he was willing to bet Logan had asked him to since he’d flooded him with texts. He ignored Clyde’s texted and when his dad had told him he was definitely done for the day, he took the bus to Denver.

He wasn’t sure where all his doubts were coming from. Whether it was how his presence made him act differently around Craig, or how he still had this habit of dismissing his anxiety. But he hung onto the good things as best he could. He liked holding his hand, he was nice to cuddle with, they went on nice dates, he was easy to talk to.

Sometimes he wasn’t sure whether or not he was hanging onto the fact he had a boyfriend after wanting one for so long. Who knew if he’d even be able to find another one.

He texted Logan when he got on campus, and he told him he’d meet him at the Harbucks on campus.

Tweek dawdled his way there, even the thought of coffee wasn’t enough of a motivation to get their quickly.

He didn’t want to breakup with him, he really didn’t. He wasn’t sure why he was being so anxious over it. But knowing how much he dismisses his anxiety made him even more anxious. It was a cycle that was difficult to stop.

The Harbucks was semi busy. It was the equivalent of a good day at Tweek Bros. but the average that Harbucks probably had.

Logan was waiting for him at a table. He already had two coffees with him, and Tweek remembered how much he loved how he always remembered his order.

“Hey,” he said, leaving the coffee on the table and standing up to hug him. He hugged him back, enjoying the warmth of him. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” And it was the truth. All of his anxiety aside, he did care about him and he wanted to be with him. It’s just that being around him lead to overthink which lead to anxieties.

Logan kissed him on the corner of his mouth, and his face warmed up. He hated PDA but it was bearable when he hated seen him in a while.

“Sorry I took so long,” he said when they were sat down at the table, three girls next to them all on their laptops. Tweek assumed they were already getting a start on their schoolwork, something Tweek was happy he didn’t have to deal with. “My dad had me swamped at work.” A half lie. His dad did find ways to keep him busy, but he had done it all willingly. But Logan didn’t need to know that.

“How was your flight?” he asked, taking a sip of his coffee. Whoever invented the venti size was his hero. Twenty ounces of coffee was a small amount of what he drank in a day and the more the better.

“Fine,” he shrugged. “By parents were way less clingy when I left this time.”

Clingy parents. Not the kind Tweek was lucky enough to have. It was actually reason #54 on his list of reasons he wanted to move out and why he was going to move out as soon as possible. He needed to sort out the job situation. He’d saved up a good amount of money at this point, if he applied for jobs in Denver then he could work on finding an apartment. Maybe he could go into Denver and see if anyone would hire someone with more experience as a barista than most people in the entire state. He was pretty great at lattee art, he specifically perfected his hearts when he was eleven so he could have a good one for Craig. And surely someone would hire him without baking qualifications, he was a great baker without them.

“Did you have a good summer?” Logan asked.

He smile game on his lips. “Yeah, I did.” He’d missed his friends so much and spending time together like they were still in high school. Guys’ night hadn’t properly been put back into motion but they’d hung out to watch movies as much as they could. Once they were all twenty-one, they would probably trade Token’s house for bars though. Especially after how they were during Spring Break.

“It was great seeing my friends again,” he continued.

He nodded. “You do have other friends to hang out with for sure, right?”

He just shrugged. He hadn’t really bothered to hang put with Butters or Kenny more. They seemed pretty busy with getting used to being in a relationship together, Kenny especially since he went through girls more than Clyde. He wasn’t sure if Butters had ever been in a real relationship, especially not with a guy.

“Well, you’ve got me now,” he smiled and Tweek smiled back at him.

Yeah, he definitely didn’t mind that. His anxiety got the best of him again, but he remembered he really did like him. He hadn’t gotten the chance to really talk to Logan about his anxiety and what it meant, and how it was more than being kind of shy.

He’d been putting it off for months. He really had to stop and just explain it all to him. Before he had a panic attack and he didn’t know what to do.

But he wasn’t going to do it in a public place. It was too personal and he didn’t want people to eavesdrop. Someone could use that information against him and–

He caught the intrusive thought before it could take of his brain. He wasn’t typically that paranoid, only when he was really anxious. Like right now.

“I guess it wouldn’t be so bad if I had gone to college,” he shrugged. “Even meeting new people, it’d be easier.”

“Well, there are my friends,” he offered.

Tweek wanted to point out tagging along with him while he was with his friends wasn’t the same thing as making his own. But he didn’t. It was still something at least, even if they were all straight. Like Craig, he wanted to have more queer friends. Other than Kenny and Butters.

“Yeah,” he nodded, his voice going a little too high pitched. He faked a cough and smiled, hoping he covered himself up well. “Yeah, you’re right. And I liked your friends a lot.” Well, definitely not a lot. But he didn’t need to know that.

“Plus, I have Clyde to always fall back on,” he added. At least when he wasn’t busy with hooking up with girls and brining them home. He didn’t brag to them to Kenny anymore, and Tweek wasn’t sure if it was the fact he was in a relationship or because he was usually with Butters nowadays. Even if he didn’t, Tweek still hoped he would come so he could see his only friend still in Colorado.

Logan squeezed his hip. “How are you two even still friends?” he asked idly.

He tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“Well, he kind of ghosted Chloe.”

Tweek stared at him for a minute, trying to place the name Chloe. Was she the girl with the tattoos or the girl who claimed she was a Buddhist too but actually knew nothing about the religion?

“You know, my friend?” Logan frowned when he took too long to respond. “The entire reason we met?”

Oh fuck, did he seriously forget that? He remembered how they met, but remembering one girls name was difficult with how many Clyde went through.

“Sorry, Clyde just brings home too many girls,” he shrugged.

“You’ve met her plenty of time.”

Okay, he’s fucked up. He actually hadn’t even bothered to remember all of his friends’ names, he always got the impression they hadn’t wanted him to be there.

“I just assumed it was another friend of yours,” Tweek mumbled. “Like I said, Clyde brings over a lot of girls. Just a few weeks ago one brought two other girls for a movie night and she ended up hitting on Craig even though–”

“Even though he’s gay,” Logan said flatly. “I remember. Because I actually give a shit about remembering things about the people you care about.”

His tone was harsh, harsher than Tweek had ever heard it. Guilt settled into his stomach. He was right, he had bothered to remember his friends, and Tweek hadn’t.

“Okay,” he sighed. “I’m sorry.” He was starting to shake. He’d really messed up. He’d been doubting this relationship while Logan had cared enough to remember things about his friends. He was such a bad boyfriend. A terrible boyfriend. Probably the worst boyfriend imaginable–

“Uh, babe, you’re shaking,” Logan said. Not with concern, it seemed to be more of an observation on his part. But Tweek couldn’t focus on that, he was too distracted by the fact he was having trouble breathing.

Without warning, he stood up from where he was sitting and ran towards the bathroom. He locked himself in a cubical and leaned against the door.

Having an anxiety attack in a Harbucks bathroom wasn’t something he’d choose, but they never came at a good time.

He didn’t get anxiety or panic attacks as much as he used to. Over time, he’d learnt how to ward them off. He wanted to go on meds but his parents would always tell him meditation was the better option. Sometimes it did help, sometimes it didn’t. He’d still rather the meds.

“Tweek, what the fuck?” Came Logan’s voice, followed by the door closing. “Are you seriously overreacting right now?”

No, he wasn’t, he knew he wasn’t. That’s what people would tell him, invalidate his emotions like he wasn’t sick. Like he could control himself in times likes this. Like Logan thought his anxiety was just shyness until he had to chase him into a Harbucks bathroom because he was have an anxiety attack.

“I’m fine,” he called, but it came out chocked because he could still barely breath as it felt like something was crushing on his chest. He was still shaking, and not twitches that had plagued him during childhood. He couldn’t gain control, not that he had a tight grip on it most of the time.

“Fuck, seriously Tweek? Why are you being so dramatic?”

Dramatic. People’s favourite word to describe him. Usually if people said it when he was with Craig, especially so when they were still dating, Craig would turn to the person who made the quip, and while he kept a hand on his back in comfort, smugly said “because he’s gay.” It always made him feel at least a little bit better while Craig went back to helping him calm down.

But he didn’t have Craig. He was in Florida, all he had was himself. Which in theory he knew was a good thing. Being dependant on someone was bad. But at the same time, having someone to fall onto was always nice. Someone you know won’t dismiss your emotions. Someone who will just sit there and hold you for as long as you need to be, even if you don’t say anything at all.

He took a deep breath, finally getting control of his breathing. Maybe this was as good as a time than ever to explain to Logan that his anxiety was deeper than regular shyness.

He opened the door but when he stepped out, he saw nothing but a guy walking in to use the urinal.

…

“So, he just left you?” Clyde frowned, laid on his bed. Tweek had sat on the arm chair since he felt weird about sitting on his roommate’s bed.

He’d relayed all of his relationship stresses to Clyde. He was the kind who would listen. Craig was his usual option but he knew it’d just make Craig angry, and he didn’t need anger. He needed someone who knew Logan.

“He did,” he muttered. “I haven’t had an anxiety attack that bad in so long too.”

“But like,”Clyde repeated, still trying to process the information. “He just left you in the bathroom when there was clearly something wrong?”

Tweek slumped in his seat and rubbed his eyes. Maybe Clyde wasn’t the best option after all.

“I kept screwing it up,” he muttered. “He had right to be angry with me.”

“That doesn’t give him the right to literally just leave you. Even a pathetic attempt to try and make you feel better would be better than just leaving you.”

Not entirely true. Craig ha done that when they were ten and it only made him feel worse. He didn’t want to be left alone, he wanted to actually be comforted. Not treated like he was a child crying because he didn’t get the toy he wanted.

He straightened himself up. “I guess,” was all he replied with.

“What even prompted it?” he asked, giving him a curious look.

“He got angry I didn’t remember who Chloe was, basically.” He didn’t even get a chance to explain he never bothered to remember the girls Clyde dated in the first place. Clyde was basically a fuck boy, which he wouldn’t say to his face because he was still his friend. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have fleeting thoughts about it.

He tilted his head at him. “That one girl I dated?”

“Apparently you ‘ghosted her’.”

“I did not!” he argued. “I broke up with her. Through text. And she never replied.”

“Dude.” Yeah, a real fuck boy.

“Hey, we only dated for two weeks. I’ve seen guys do way worse.”

“Why do you go through girls so much anyway?” he asked, frowning. “Like, is there a reason for it or something?”

He shrugged. “I’m not the type to settle I guess. If she’s right she’s right, not something fleeting.”

He brows furrowed together and stared at him.

“Look,” Clyde sighed. “I do have some sort of reasoning around dating so many girls. I just don’r want to be someone who settles for a girl just because she’s there, it has to feel right from the start.”

“You know a relationship can’t be perfect though, right?”

“It’s not about being perfect, it just has to feel right. How many people do you think get married because they never thought they’d never find someone else?”

He stared at him and it really hit him. Clyde was actually making sense. Settling was never a good thing. Keeping yourself in a bad relationship was also not a good thing.

Maybe going to Clyde was a good idea after all. Even if his intention right now wasn’t giving him advice.

He’d only stayed with Logan for this long because while holding onto the few good things, he was scared he wouldn’t find someone else. And even if his options were technically more limited, if Clyde could find a girl every week then he could find another guy eventually.

He stood up. “I know what I have to do,” he said. “Thanks.”

Clyde gave him a curious look. “Uh, you’re welcome?” he replied. “What did I do?”

Yeah, he was clueless but thankfully he could say great things unintentionally. And he was going to take that advice.


	26. Chapter 26

Breaking up with Logan was like ripping of a band-aid.

As in, it hurt and there was an uncomfortable feeling from the glue residue.

“I just don’t get why,” Logan said, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared him down across the room.

Tweek had decided to do it in Logan’s dorm. Breaking up with him in public felt like it’d be too cruel, and the idea made him uncomfortable. Even if people could hear any yelling through the paper thin walls, it was better than practically inviting people to sit and watch.

“We’re not right for each other,” Tweek said.

“Is this about Harbucks because–”

“No,” he said. “It’s more than that. Ever since we’ve met you’ve acted like my anxiety was some cute thing until I had an anxiety attack in the bathroom.”

“I literally thought you were just shy and overreacted. Come on, you’re being–”

“Dramatic?” he guessed in a flat voice.

“Unreasonable,” he amended. “Just because you overreact to things doesn’t mean we should breakup.”

He narrowed his eyes at him. “This is what I’m talking about,” he said. “You dismiss everything I feel. You act like you do, but you don’t actually give a shit about how I feel.”

“Tweek–”

“No, I’ve already broken up with you, stop trying to make up for it.”

He turned to leave and just as he was going to open the door, Logan grabbed his arm.

“Tweek, come on.”

He shoved his arm off him and glared at him. “I already told you, we’re done.” He gave him a cold glare, one he doesn’t give out easily. People would get used to seeing him as meek, so hard expressions always caught people off guard.

Logan was definitely one of those people. He thought he had a boyfriend who was shy in a cute way, not one who was riddled with anxiety. He thought his coffee addiction was a cute quirk, not something he felt so dependent on to the point he knew it was unhealthy, all because he had been drinking it out of the bottle (he wished that part was an exaggeration but he’d seen the pictures to prove it).

That’s why he was so dismissive of his anxiety. It was no longer cute, it was emotionally draining for everyone around him. Most people wouldn’t have stood on the other side of a bathroom stall, offering words of comfort until he was calmed down enough to unlock the door and allow that person to hold him.

It’d only happened once, but during the dance in sixth grade, he’d had a panic attack. He couldn’t remember why. All he remembered was running to the bathroom and locking himself in a stall, Craig waiting on the other side. When he unlocked the door, Craig sat on the floor with him, the door once again locked, and held him until he’d calmed down. They left the bathroom after a kiss, hand in hand and returning to the school’s gym. People had assumed they’d just gone to make out, which they had both shrugged off and Tweek had tried to enjoy the rest of the night without a repeat of the last fifteen minutes.

Sometimes he’d told himself that putting other people, not even just romantic partners, to that standard was unfair. He’d brought that up to Craig once, but he told him his standards should be that high, because wanting someone to support you was the bareminimum. Craig was always good at reminding him of that kind of sense. And he needed that when he slammed the door in Logan’s face, deciding to sleep in Clyde’s room since it had gotten pretty late and he’d rather sleep on his floor than pay an absurd amount of money for an Uber.

* * *

College had been pretty uneventful. Alex and Seth came to Craig and Nathan’s room a lot, mostly because Craig could play Netflix through his PS4 and Seth and Alex didn’t have a TV. That year they’d chosen to live off campus in an apartment together. If Instagram was anything to go off of, they’d barely furnished the place.

Classes had been a whole other thing. His major’s classes were coming down on him hard. He didn’t expect them to be as hard as they are. Sure, he understood everything in theory but the work was something that weighed him down to the point he was up late trying to get his papers from bad to okay. His grades had been reflecting it, he’d been getting C pluses at best. Not from a lack of trying. It was all just… really fucking hard.

He’d thought about trying tutoring but he couldn’t afford it. He didn’t want to ask his parents for money when they were already on welfare. He just had to figure it out for himself.

Which, well, the only option was studying for himself. Even it made him want to bang his head against a wall.

“Dude, you look like your head is about to explode,” Nathan said, closing the door behind him. Craig had all of his textbooks for his major and his notebook of illegible notes set out in front of him. His head was in his hands as he stared down but unable to focus of anything.

“I fucking hate this,” he muttered, rubbing his temples.

“At least you’re trying, right?”

He almost sighed. Craig did consider Nathan his best friend here but he was terrible at advice. He did try but he hadn’t told him that he got a D on his last paper.

“Don’t you have class?” he asked instead.

“I just came to get a text book I forgot,” Nathan said, going to his desk. “Why don’t you take a break or something?”

A break actually sounded like a great idea. But he’d made absolutely no progress. He’d flipped through his notes full of misspellings where he could make it out, and trying to make sense of the jargon in the textbooks.

Nathan closed the door behind him, and Craig pulled out his phone. He hadn’t talked to Tweek in a little. They’d had a few exchanges, mostly sending memes. Nothing about life though.

Around this time he should be done working, which would allow time for real conversation.

Craig: _hey wanna FaceTime?_

His reply came almost immediately.

Tweek: _yeah :D_

Tweek’s face popping up on the screen was a nice bit of familiarity. Although, his tiredness seemed pretty obvious. He had dark bags under his eyes, or darker than usual really.

“Hey,” he said. “How’ve you been?”

Tweek gave him a small smile. “Not great.”

He frowned. “Uh, I broke up with Logan.”

That made him sit up straight. “You what?”

“I broke up with him,” he shoulders slumped. “He was an asshole.” He looked away from the screen, down at his lap.

Craig stared at his phone’s screen, and he really wished he was with Tweek so he could hold him. He’d thrown out using logic to make Tweek feel better a long time ago and used emotional support instead. Mostly physical support. And he couldn’t do it because he was 2000 miles away.

“I’m sorry. Fuck, we can talk about something else.”

“I’m fine, really,” he said, looking at him again. “I’ll get over it.”

He nodded. “Okay, uh, anything else you want to do?”

“We could watch Love, Simon although that might just remind me of how lonely I am.”

He smiled. “We can be lonely together,” he said.

They did end up watching Love, Simon together. That, Shelter, and some 90’s movie called Beautiful Thing that Nathan was obsessed with and had made him watch. Tweek said he liked it, even though they barely understood the English accents most of the time.

His company always made him feel good. Really good. He’d rather talk to him like they were than go down and try and socialise with people he barely knew.

He hadn’t realised how much time had passed until Nathan got back. Nathan was his opposite in some ways. He was more extroverted, and always studied with other people. He spent less time in his dorm – that wasn’t out of necessity at least – than Craig did in the library.

When he got back, they were almost to the end of Moonlight and Tweek was sobbing on the other end as Craig had a few of his own tears.

“Hey, not interrupting or anything?” Nathan asked.

“Just a gay movie marathon,” he shrugged. His laptop was in his lap as he sat on his bed, and his phone so he could talk to Tweek was next to him. It was obvious he was talking to someone since Craig’s sobs were basically over the audio in the movie. They’d decided to add a fourth movie to the mix since they’d already been watching them together for so long.

“Fuck, I love Moonlight,” he said when he got to his side and looked down at his phone. Tweek seemed to have only just realised someone else had gotten into the room.

“Oh sorry,” Nathan laughed. “Didn’t realise you were with someone.” The way he said ‘with’ had a certain suggestive tone to it. Craig rolled his eyes at him.

“Friend from home,” he said.

He nodded. “Alright,” he said. “I’m gonna go shower and then turn in.” He swiftly grabbed his toiletries bag and soon enough, he and Tweek were alone again.

“Oh is it late for you?” Tweek asked frowning.

“I’m only two hours ahead, you know that.”

“Yeah but don’t you have class tomorrow?”

“Not until 12 so I’ll be fine. We can talk a little longer.”

“I don’t want to disturb your roommate though.”

And that was the downside of sharing a room with someone.

The movie was ending anyway, and Tweek didn’t seem to have noticed since he was always a worse mess of tears at that point. He stopped himself from sighing and nodded.

“Okay, I’ll talk to you soon,” he said. “Take care of yourself.”

It was when Nathan got back that Craig realised his break from studying went far longer than it should’ve and he still knew nothing.


	27. Chapter 27

Clyde had insisted on him and Tweek going out to Denver to hang out. In his mind it was to get his mind off of his breakup. He was his only friend to fall back on so he couldn’t say he didn’t appreciate it.

It seemed in Clyde’s mind what would cheer him up was to go to a bakery. Not that he didn’t love bakeries. But it wasn’t something he’d necessarily use to cheer himself up.

“I’ll buy you one of those small cakes, how about that?” Clyde asked when they entered the bakery.

It was a pretty tiny bakery called Sweet Dreams Delights. It was kind of nice and quaint, and the atmosphere reminded him of Tweek Bros.. Even though he associated a lot of bad things with it, it did still have the independent atmosphere you didn’t find in something from a chain.

“Hi, how can I help you?” the girl behind the counter asked.

His eyes went to Clyde, since he noticed him put on a smile. The kind of smile he’d come to associate with when he wanted to flirt with a girl. He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

Clyde clasped his shoulder. “My friend just went through a breakup,” he said. “What cake do you recommend?”

Tweek turned to him and glared at him as the girl smiled. “Cookies and cream is my go to for breakups,” she said.

He nodded. “Okay, that.” He didn’t really have a preference on cake, what he did have a preference about was getting Clyde out of here before he did something stupid.

The girl got out the small cake from the display case and it did look really good. Clyde got out his wallet as she packed it away.

Clyde was still making eyes at her but Tweek wasn’t sure if she had even noticed. He paid for the cake and Tweek took the cake.

“Hope you feel better from your breakup,” the girl said when he took the bag.

He nodded and clasped Clyde’s elbow because he could tell if he didn’t they’d be there longer than he’d prefer.

“Really? You have to be horny when I’m going through a breakup?” he asked when they were back in the street.

Clyde gave an innocent smile. “What? I only smiled.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re terrible at this. But that’s probably because you’ve never had an actual relationship.”

“Hey! I’m sensitive! And I bought you cake.”

“And Craig watched gay movies with me, so who’s doing better?”

He laughed and slapped his back. “Fine, what do you want to do?”

His honest answer was hang out with Craig. But in person, not over FaceTime. He was there for him when he broke and Jordan broke up, he knew if anyone could make him feel better it was Craig.

He missed him so much, he was counting down to when it was Christmas so they could spend all their time together.

He knew that growing up meant not seeing your childhood friends as much anymore. But he hated it. He didn’t want to lose Craig just because they were growing up.

He knew he had to settle on FaceTime for now. He knew he’d just have to get used to it but he kind of didn’t want to.

He wasn’t about to lay that all on Clyde though.

“I kind of just want to go home, I guess. But thanks for trying.”

“I can come and keep you company,” he said. “I haven’t been home in a while.”

He actually hadn’t. It was only a month into the semester but he hadn’t come home to visit at all. He hadn’t asked if he’d slowed down with dating, but he didn’t bring any girls back anymore, and Tweek was pretty certain it wasn’t because there was no longer a point to brag to Kenny anymore.

“Okay,” he nodded. “I’m sure you want to see your dad too.” And his mom as well but he wasn’t about to make him cry on the sidewalk.

When they were on the bus, Tweek lazily stared out the window, watching the stores go by.

“You know, I’ve been thinking that next year I’ll live off campus,” Clyde said.

“Roommate that bad?” he asked, turning back to him.

He nodded. “You want to move out, don’t you? We could live together.”

“Wait? Are you serious?” Living with Clyde wasn’t really his first plan. If he saved up for another year he’d have enough to get by a little comfortably. Splitting the costs with another person would make things a lot easier.

“Sure, I hate living on campus and I know for a fact you hate living with your parents. It’s cheaper if we live together, I’m working on saving for it specifically.”

He stared at him for a moment. The obvious question would be if he would be a good roommate in the first place. Which was something Tweek didn’t have much hope in.

But it was some kind of out. He just had to wait under year for what was practically a guarantee of getting away from his parents. Someone to fall back on if he didn’t find a job soon enough.

He’d definitely take that over his parents, even if he was definitely going to bring girls back and he’d have to suffer through sex noises.

“Hang on,” he said, a thought coming to his mind. “When’d you get a job?”

“I’m a Twitch streamer. I stream like, five hours a day.”

Of course he did. “Well,” he scratched the back of his bed. “I like the idea of that. Wish you’d thought of it sooner.”

He laughed. “Awesome, we can work it out next summer.”

He smiled and nodded. It finally felt like he was starting to get some handle on his life and he was ready for it.

* * *

“God,” Nathan groaned from his bed, his newly purchased makeup dumped in front of him. “How do people do this?”

Craig was sat on his own bed, his laptop in his lap, mostly ignoring Nathan’s new endeavour. Something Craig definitely admired about Nathan was his boldness. He’d said during a conversation at the queer centre last night that he’d been thinking about starting to wear makeup, and when Nathan’s friend Carla, a sophomore trans girl from what Craig could tell loved makeup, said he should, she and her girlfriend Lorna took him to Ulta that day. Nathan came back with a plastic bag but looked utterly confused with what to even do.

“Aren’t there videos on YouTube?” Craig asked, looking over.

He nodded. “Yeah, but,” he held out some kind of tube that when Nathan screwed it off, Craig assumed it was mascara. “How the fuck am I meant to get this on my eyelashes?”

He snorted and shrugged. “Sorry dude, I know absolutely nothing about makeup. My extent with that kind of stuff was letting my sister paint my nails one time.”

He smiled. “Cute, how old were you?”

“Nine.” He remembered it too well. He’d worn it to school the next day not thinking much of it, and as usual, Cartman was an asshole and pointed it out to all the boys in their class. He called it ‘gay’, among other things. When Craig got home that day he demanded Tricia to get it off of him. He remembered the sad look she’d given him because he’d been so excited about it initially and that made her happy. It’d made him happy too until Cartman called him gay for doing it.

Internalised homophobia really was a bitch.

“I’ve got some,” he said, digging through his bag. “In case you wanna put some on.”

He’d actually kind of wanted to do it again but a piece of him always told him not to. He always had flashes of Cartman sneering at him when he’d consider it.

But the good thing about college was that he didn’t have to deal with Cartman. He could do small things that he’d enjoyed that small town culture would clutch their pearls at.

He got off his bed and looked at the colours he had to pick from. He wasn’t the biggest fan of the bright colours but there was a navy blue that caught his eye. He smiled and took the bottle. He probably won’t ever wear makeup, and even Nathan looked like he was going for something more light, but he felt nice to do something he wanted to do for so long.

While Nathan tried to figure out how to put makeup on, Craig carefully paired his nails. He smiled down at his hand. As he did though, Cartman’s nasty comments flashed through his mind.

_“Oh my god! Are you gay, Craig? You guys, look at Craig’s gay ass nails!”_

Yeah, he was so fucking gay, and maybe his nails would show that too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Craig painting his nails is like, my favourite headcanon


	28. Chapter 28

Christmas break coming felt like a weight off Craig’s shoulders. Lately his life had more or less been a routine. He’d go to class, spend most of his time in his dorm, sometimes go to something held by the queer centre, and see a guy he thought was kind of cute across the room but make no attempts at talking to him. 

He’d still talk to the guys in their group chat whenever he could though. That was his favourite constant. Even with all of them having their own new lives going on – except for Tweek he figured – they all made the effort to try and keep their friendship. Unlike other guys from their school, he didn’t hang out with them because he saw them everyday. There was a reason he was so careful about his friends. 

But texting wasn’t the same as actually seeing them again, and he was looking forward to their time of pretending they weren’t separated for months. 

Clyde had texted him before he went on his plane to come straight to his house when he got home. Craig couldn’t pin why and he hoped there wasn’t any kind of surprises waiting. 

It was a little late in the afternoon when he got to Clyde’s. He’d let himself in, a habit he’d grown into years ago. 

The first thing he noticed was Clyde had set out food on the coffee table, far more food than five people needed. Even eight, if he accounted for a repeat of the time he’d brought girls over to Token’s for guys’ night.

“What are you doing?” he frowned, looking from the food to Clyde. 

“My dad went on a work trip,” he grinned. “Thought everyone could use a start to summer celebration.” 

Okay, not something Craig would’ve chosen. He didn’t hate parties, he could handle them in small doses. But tonight he really just wanted to catch up with the people he actually cared about. Not fake interest in people he didn’t want to see if he didn’t have to. 

“Tweek’s in the kitchen,” he said as he set a few bottles of soda down. That was his incentive to leave the room, which was likely Clyde’s plan.

Tweek was sitting on one of the stools, cup of coffee in hand. He smiled when he saw him. 

“Hey, good flight?” he asked.

He shrugged. “Sure,” he said and sat next to him. “How was work?”

“Shit,” he shrugged. “So, the usual.”

Yeah, that sounded about right. “Who’s on the guest list anyway? Or is it open invite?”

“Open, obviously,” he said. “He’s trying to get alcohol too. I think he asked Stan to ask his sister.” 

Okay, so that probably meant Stan was going to come, which meant his asshole friends would come too. Exactly the opposite of how he’d want to spend his first day back. Jimmy and Token were coming that day too, and he assumed Clyde had sent them the same message. 

“I would ask if you’d want to fuck off and do something else but I assume you wouldn’t do that to Clyde?” Craig asked, resting his elbow on the counter so his chin was resting on his palm while his cheek pressed against his knuckles. He and Tweek had turned to face each other so their knees were almost touching, though not quite. 

He shrugged. “Maybe. I’m a little too used to seeing him anyway.” Craig laughed, his hand moving to rest his hand on the counter. “We might live together next– did you paint your nails?”

Craig blinked, and looked down at his hand. He’d developed a habit of painting them to the point he sometimes forgot they were painted until they were a little too chipped for his liking. 

“Oh. Yeah,” he shrugged. 

“Neat.”

He nodded. “What was that about living with Clyde?” That’s the part that had gotten his attention. He knew Tweek desperately wanted to move out but the thought of him living with someone for some reason hadn’t occurred to him. Much less Clyde of all people, who Craig could only assume would be some sort of a nightmare to live with. 

“It was an idea he had,” he said. Next year, I guess. I’ve got a lot of savings and it’s cheaper to live with someone obviously. Especially since it might take time to find a job.”

“You have 20 years of barista experience, won’t be too hard.”

That got a smile and Craig was silently pleased with himself. 

“I think I want to be a baker,” he went on. “I don’t think I can attend offical schooling though.”

“Well, you could always try. Your cupcakes are the best think about Tweek Bros..”

“Thanks,” he said. “I mean, they’re okay but I could probably get a job just serving and shit. There’s plenty of bakeries in Denver. Maybe I could just work my way up.”

He nodded. “You seem like you’d love it.” He smiled at him and Tweek smiled back. 

He was already dreading the end of summer. 

Token and Jimmy came in a little later, and Craig greeted them with a shout of “missed ya heteros”. 

Apparently Stan was able to get his sister to get them alcohol, as long as she was invited. The party didn’t start officially until seven, and Stan rolled up with a keg around 6:30pm. Kyle had come to help too, and once if was placed in the kitchen, Craig immediately helped himself to a cup. 

He didn’t really bother to make conversation with Stan and Kyle. They said ‘hi’ to him but he gave them a non-comital grunt before retreating to sit with Tweek in the kitchen again. 

Craig wasn’t sure why Clyde thought throwing a party was even a good idea. His house wasn’t that big, especially compared to Token’s. Maybe half of their graduating class would fit comfortably but it was already getting way too crowded for comfort. 

Clyde had set out a table for Beirut outside, and Craig watched as some people played. After his first and only experience at Token’s, he’d sworn to never again play. 

“Isn’t it a bit cold out here?” 

Craig turned to see Tweek walking up to him, giving him a usual smile. A smile came on his own face when he came to his side. 

“Yeah but I miss it,” he said, adjusting his chullo. “It never gets this cold in Florida.”

He nodded. “I noticed, since you’ve shown your hair more in the past year and a half than your whole life.” 

He laughed. He wasn’t wrong, he used to even sleep with his hat, most of the time only taking it off to shower. Abandoning it for Florida felt like he was already leading a whole new life. 

“Making my hair look decent it my least favourite part,” he said. “I’ve gotten used to it though, for the most part.”

He nodded and he noticed him shiver for a moment. Like usual, he wasn’t wearing a coat. A piece of him wanted to shrug off hi jacket and lend it to him. He ignored that desire to.

They stayed out for a while, grabbing a few beers in between. 

Tweek however didn’t want to stay out for too long since he had to wake up early for work. They agreed to meet during his lunch break, and Craig stayed back to people watch. He wasn’t necessarily in the mood to socialise and he wasn’t sure where the rest of his friends were. He’d been so focused on Tweek that he didn’t see where they went off to. 

Maybe he should start getting home. It was pretty late so he might as well just go home. 

He walked through the house and to the front yard. His house was a short walk from Clyde’s, so he should be home soon enough. 

What he didn’t expect to see when he stepped outside was a very drunk Stan crying on the sidewalk. 

Now, Craig wasn’t a heartless person. He may dislike Stan and his friends and avoid them at every opportunity, but the guy had a bottle of some kind of alcohol, and he was sobbing. 

He stared at him for a moment, and as much as he’d like to get home, he should probably go and check on him. 

He stepped closer to him and knelt down to his level. “Uh, you okay, dude?” 

Stan lifted his head and looked at him. His face was stained with tears and his eyes were bloodshot. 

“No,” he breathed out.

“Uh, okay,” he replied and patted his back awkwardly. “Where’re your friends?”

“I don’t know,” his voice cracked. 

“Want me to find them?”

He shook his head quickly. “No,” he said. 

He decided it was best to not ask why. From what he could guess: Kenny and Butters, who were surprisingly big fans of PDA, were way too busy and Cartman wasn’t the kind of person who’d help a friend you’d call in a time like this.

He wasn’t sure why he wouldn’t want Kyle though. He’d expect him to ask for him desperately. 

“Well, uh, want some help getting home?”

He got a silent nod as an answer and Craig helped him up, taking the bottle from him and ignoring his wining, and after he tossed it in the trash – and finding out it was goddamn vodka – he kept him steady as they walked to his house. 

“So, why were you all emo?” he asked, his hand gripping his arm. 

“Relationship issues,” he grumbled. 

“Wendy?” He was mostly kidding, although he had wondered for a while exactly what their relationship was. They went to prom together, but they hadn’t acted like a couple when they set off fireworks. He’d just kind of assumed it had been a platonic date like him and Tweek. 

He got a very drunken laugh in response. “Haven’t you seen her Instagram?”

He doesn’t follow her on Instagram but he shook his head. “No.”

“Oh, well, she’s dating Bebe.” He was still laughing, like it was the most hysterical thing he’d ever heard. 

“Okay. Cool, I guess?” There weren’t many lesbians in town and Craig subscribed to the school of thought of the more lesbians the better. 

“About my ex girlfriend being a lesbian?”

He gave him a shrug. “So then, who are you having relationship issues with then?” 

He gave a dramatic sigh. “Can’t tell you.”

“Why are you being so ambiguous? Does it matter who this chick is?” 

“I didn’t say it was a chick.”

He almost tripped over himself to land face first into the icy concrete. 

“I’m sorry, what the hell?” As far as he’d cared, Stan was straight. Not as straight as he’d thought Kenny was (before he was proven wrong) but still straight. 

Stan gave him a furious nod. “Yeah, I’m bi.”

“Okay?” Well, he wasn’t interested in hearing how he’d found out and they were almost at his house anyway. He probably couldn’t tell him about the relationship struggles because this other guy was likely closeted. “Don’t worry about it.”

Stan grabbed his hand, which in his drunken state was much harder. He didn’t really care, he’d dealt with drunken friends plenty of times before. As long as they got home safely and didn’t choke on their own vomit, they could do whatever they liked. 

“Why’re your nails like that?” He stared at the dark blue colour on his nails like they were the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. It kind of creeped him out.

He snatched his hand away. “It’s just nail polish, dude.”

He blinked at him, confusion clouding his vision. “That’s super gay, dude.”

“Good.”

A grin came across his face and he poked his cheek. How much had this guy had to drink? “You’re super gay.”

He swatted his hand away. “Yes, I know. We established that in fourth grade.”

He nodded violently . “So you’re gay…” His speech trailed off in a slur.

“Yes…”

“And,” he pointed to himself. “I’m bi…”

“As I just found out, yes.”

He nodded and stopped walking, and took hold of his arm. Really tightly actually. 

Before Craig could push him off, a pair of lips were on his own. 

It barely lasted for a second, because he pushed him away, and was ready to cuss him out but then he was met with a shocked look right back at him. 

Then he started crying, burying his face in his hands. “I’m sorry.”

He blinked at him, throwing away every profanity that he was ready to spit at him. 

“Dude, uh, it’s okay.” Because he was clearly drunk and maybe going through a breakup. Maybe he had serious confusion he didn’t know how to process and alcohol was making him act like an idiot. 

“Let’s just get you home, okay?”

He nodded and for the rest of the way back to his house, they didn’t touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, my Staig trash-ness made it into this.


	29. Chapter 29

@smarsh: _fuck fuck fuck fuck I’m so sorry_

@smarsh: _I just woke up and remembered what I did im so sorry_

@smarash: _idk why I did it I was so fkn drunk_

Craig stared at the Twitter DM’s from Stan, trying to figure out what he could even say.

He wasn’t mad about the kiss, it was mostly just unexpected. Like Stan’s bisexuality.

He was planning to just forget about it, Stan seemed too drunk to retain any memory but when he opened up Twitter he’d flooded his DM’s with apologies.

He should probably reply instead of leave him hanging the way he was.

@spacetucker: _dude I told you it’s fine_

@smarsh: _no it’s not I was really upset over something and you were just the closest person_

@spacetucker: _and probably gayest_

@smarsh: _yeah that too_

@smarsh: _im just mad at someone. He’d broken up with me and I felt like shit_

@spacetucker: _id gathered the feeling like shit enough_

@spacetucker: _like I said no big deal. Datings hard_

@smarsh: _yeah_

Craig stared expectantly at his phone, figuring that he had more to say. But after a few minutes, he figured that that was all he was going to get. Typically he wouldn’t care about Stan but whatever was bothering him seemed to go pretty deep. Deeper than he’d initially assumed at least. He felt kind of bad for him, especially after the display from the previous night.

The way he was already shutting him out though told him it was best to not push. He’d seemed more concerned with apologising for kissing him. He definitely wouldn’t go to him if he wanted to pour out his emotions on someone. He even had Kenny and Butters to go to if he needed to sort out the bi thing, unlike how Kenny could only go crawling to Butters.

He decided it was best to stop thinking about it and instead focus on how he was going to get to see Tweek for lunch. He had no reason to worry about Stan’s problems.

When he went to go downstairs he saw Tricia crouching behind the barrier and staring into the living.

“Uh, what’re you doing?” he asked.

She shushed him and made a waving gesture telling him to come closer.

He frowned and knelt next to her. He could see their parents in the middle of some sort of heated conversation.

Their words were a little hard to make out but he could see his mom was in tears and his dad was in a defensive stance.

“No, Thomas,” his mom said. “I can’t do it anymore. I want you to leave.”

His jaw dropped. He looked at Karen whose eyes were fixed on them. She didn’t look surprised by the scene.

“What happened?” he whispered to her.

“I think dad cheated on mom.”

Oh.

_Oh._

His eyes went back to his parents and he knew they were in a screaming match but it was like none of the words made sense in his brain. It was just noise to him.

He stood up and ran to his room. He closed the door behind him and fell back against the door, falling to the floor.

He remembered years ago his parents had a similar fight. They’d tried their best to hide it from him and Tricia but they knew that they were having problems. He’d thought that they were over it, that they were in a happy marriage.

Maybe he’d missed a lot over a year and a half if Tricia wasn’t surprised.

But cheating? He wouldn’t have expected that. Not his dad.

But Tricia wouldn’t have said it was if she wasn’t at least a little sure. All he knew for sure was that it was enough for his mom to kick him out.

Merry fucking Christmas he figured.

* * *

Craig’s dad ended up moving in with his brother Skeeter since he didn’t have many other places to go. Red had filled him in that he was sleeping on the couch and when he wasn’t at work parked himself in front of the TV.

He and Red, despite being cousins, weren’t too close. There was that time they were partnered for that egg child assignment but that was the most time they’d spent together. Craig wasn’t really sure why, Red was cool but they always gravitated towards their own friend groups. He wasn’t even sure if most people knew that they were cousins since it never came up.

He didn’t really care if his dad was doing okay. His mom had sat him and Tricia down and confirmed the cheating suspicions. And that they were getting a divorce. Craig didn’t ask how they’d necessarily afford that since they didn’t have much money. He hated he’d be missing most of it while he was back at college. Hopefully Tricia would fill him in on everything.

Usually his grandmother would come over for Christmas. Despite being his dad’s mom, she still came over to see him and Tricia. Craig assumed she’d go see his dad afterwards anyway. She always saw Uncle Skeeter and Red this time of year anyway.

His mom made him wear nicer clothes due to his grandma’s visit. Which really consisted of a white button up and khakis. Tricia was wearing a dress, which wasn’t a big change for her. Though she did complain about how ugly it was since it was one that their grandma had bought her.

Though one thing he did not expect his mother to ask was to take off his nail polish before she arrived. When he said he hadn’t brought nail polish remover with him Tricia offered to give him her’s and she took him upstairs to get it.

His parents had noticed he was wearing it when he got home. It was only a dark blue, so it wasn’t necessarily showy but it was different for him. They didn’t appear to have a problem with it but they’d always told his him grandmother was more old-fashioned. That was why Tweek and Jordan had been ‘special best friends’ as far as she knew. That was why the reason he didn’t have a girlfriend was because he wanted to focus on his studies.

It was bullshit but both his mom and his dad were pretty set in their opinions.

“I like the colour,” Tricia said when she got the nail polish remover out of the bathroom cabinet.

“Thanks,” he said, taking the bottle.

“I don’t get why you have to take it off, is she really going to faint at the sight of nail polish?”

He shrugged as he used a cotton pad to clean his nails. “Imagine if I ever get married. Would that be what? A friendship ceremony?”

She laughed and sat on the bathroom counter. “Just a couple of guys being dudes, right?”

He smiled, looking at his first clean finger. The colour was getting chipped anyway so he would’ve had to take them off when he got back to college.

“I still can’t believe they’re actually divorcing,” Tricia muttered. “Like, they were fighting a lot but I didn’t think it’d go this far.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Trish,” he said meeting her eye. “I want to know these things. What am I meant to do if I’m so far away?”

“We can’t do anything about it Craig,” she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Well, I’d still rather now so you don’t have to keep it all in.”

“I haven’t,” she shook her head. “I’ve been telling Karen.”

“Karen?”

She nodded. “You know we’re friends.”

“Best friends?”

“Yeah.”

He shrugged and finished off his first hand. “Good, so long as she’s not like Kenny and his friends. Getting into stupid shit.”

A small smile came on her lips. “I think we’ll be fine.”

* * *

 

Being open on Christmas was so far, Tweek’s parents worst idea.

They didn’t celebrate Christmas, being Buddhist and all, so his dad was pretty defiant in how there was no reason to close if they weren’t going to be doing anything.

Tweek stood at the counter with his chin in his hands. There’d only been a couple of customers, despite his dad thinking that for some reason, the majority Catholic population of the town, would be craving coffee enough to leave the house and come to Tweek Bros..

His parents ended up sending him into the back to organise the inventory. At least it was something to do.

He took as much time as he possibly could, and even then, when he was done there was three hours until they closed.

With a sigh, he sat on the floor and took out his phone. The group chat he and his friends had was mostly quiet, and nothing interesting was being said.

He thought about texting Craig but he knew his Christmas wasn’t the best this year since his parents were divorcing. He didn’t ask too much about it since he could tell it was really hurting him and he didn’t want to talk about it.

He wasn’t quite sure what he could do to make him feel better. Craig had been closing himself off to the point Tweek wasn’t sure if there was anything he could do.

He stuffed his phone back into his pocket and went back to work.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ones really short, the next one should make up for it.

As soon as he was back in Florida Craig fell into his usual routine. Go to class, struggle through homework, and spend most of his time in his dorm.

Nathan did try to get him out more, but he wasn’t in the mood. He did tell him about his parents divorcing, which did get some sympathy from him. He still tried to get him out more since he seemed to think it’d cheer him up, but Craig still stayed up in their dorm. Nathan gave up after the third attempt.

Classes were still pretty difficult but he was scraping by enough. Sure, he’d gotten a few F’s but he’d made up for them. His final grades wouldn’t be the best but at least he’d pass. His goal wasn’t an impressive transcript, it was his degree. And the way he saw it, having his degree would be enough.

He tried to remind himself that when he struggled through his homework.

* * *

Tweek had started to spend most of his days off in Denver.

He didn’t necessarily always go to visit Clyde, but he went plenty of times. But he usually hung around the Harbucks and stayed on his laptop until he felt like he’d out lived his welcome (or when a barista refused to give him another cup of coffee).

He’d also started visiting that one bakery, Sweet Dreams Delights he remembered, Clyde took him to. He’d gone enough for all the workers to know his name. He usually just got something quick to eat for his trip home and a coffee. At that point he was usually three or four in that one more barely affected him.

The bell at the door gave its small ring and April, the regular barista and cashier, gave him a smile. She was the same girl from his first visit with Clyde. Clyde had asked about her and when Tweek made a joke to her about it, she laughed and told him she was a lesbian. When he told her he was gay a borderline friendship between them had started.

“Hey, the usual?” she asked when he stepped to the counter.

He nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”

She turned to prepare his coffee. “Having a nice day off?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yep, love being out of that hell hole.”

He and Clyde had already started looking at apartments. He hadn’t told his parents of his plans quite yet, he’d decided to wait until the last possible minute. A way so they couldn’t stop him from leaving. If a lease was signed, there was nothing they could do about it and he’d finally be out of there.

They were able to get a basic idea of what they wanted, and there were plenty of apartment blocks in Denver that had college students in mind. So they shouldn’t have the hardest time, they only needed a two bedroom. Better than the studio apartment plan he had.

He’d been keeping his eye out on finding a new job. He’d worked on his resumé to his best ability, and despite his years of experience, baristas were a dime a dozen. Unless he could somehow get a job and get a baking qualification, his options were limited.

“Here you go,” she said setting the coffee and a cinnamon bun on the counter. He quickly paid and took a sip of his coffee.

“So,” she said leaning against the counter. “I probably shouldn’t tell you but I might be getting promoted to manager, which includes hiring.”

He stared at her for a moment, and smiled. “Really, huh?”

She nodded. “Yep, so if you’re looking for a new job any time soon, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

A way out. An actual way out. And at a bakery so he could swindle his way into making some treats if he tried. “Thank you.”

She’d probably never know how thankful he was for it.


	31. Chapter 31

Craig was surprised he made it through the semester with passing grades. Well, D’s mostly with a few C’s but that still counted as passing. He was going to keep his grades far away from his parents, that was for sure.

His parents’ divorce was still in its early stages. His mom was getting custody of Tricia, even though she’d be eighteen in two years.

Craig was pretty sure his mom was going to get their house. Red had told him he was still staying with her dad, which made Craig wonder how long he would be staying there. He’d been doing his best to not think about it. But going home to it would make that literally impossible.

Coming home would also mean he’d get looks of pity from neighbours because things always spread in small towns. He couldn’t wait until he permanently lived somewhere where everyone was a stranger and happily ignored him.

He hadn’t been hanging out with his friends as much as he would’ve liked. Clyde was finding more apartment options for him and Tweek, Tweek was putting in more hours at work for extra money for the inevitable move out, Token was studying even more than he used to, and Jimmy was spending time with Timmy. It all added up to more time alone than he’d prefer.

He wasn’t spending as much time at home. The difference was so abundant, his mom was putting in extra hours at work and Tricia mostly stayed up in her room. Almost everything that had belonged to his dad were no longer there, the old bottle ship thing on the mantle missing was the first thing he’d noticed, and family pictures that included his dad were no longer on the walls. The emptiness made it feel too different to feel like the same home.

Red had offered to meet up with him, mostly to fill him in more on his dad’s situation. Going to his uncle’s house was also a good excuse to see his dad. He hadn’t seen him since before Christmas.

He let himself in, and the first thing he saw was his dad on the couch.

“Hey dad,” he said, after waiting a moment for him to notice he was there.

He turned to him and seemed kind of relived to see him. “Hey Craig, when’d you get back?”

“Couple days ago.” He shrugged while his hands were still stuffed in his pockets.

“So, uh, how’s college?”

“Fine.”

He nodded slowly, falling into silence.

The funny thing was, they were closer when he was a little kid. They used to do the father son cliché of tossing a football in the backgarden. He showed him how to work on bicycles. He seemed, well, pretty happy about having a son.

He missed that. Now he could barely look his dad in the eye knowing what he’d done. Because he had cheated and had been for a while. Because apparently his mom and seen him on some Ashly Maddison like bullshit when Troll Trace had been available.

He heard the sound of loud footsteps coming down the stairs and Red jumped to last two steps.

“Hey Craig,” she said, and punched his shoulder. A little too hard for his liking but he laughed, rubbing the sore spot.

“Hey to you too.”

She turned to his dad. “Tell my dad we went to get lunch.”

His dad looked if anything, relieved by that statement and nodded.

They stepped outside, and Craig wasn’t entirely sure what she’d meant by ‘lunch’, so he let her lead the way.

“Has he mostly been on the couch?” Craig asked, slight bitterness in his tone. “When not working at least?”

She shrugged. “He goes out sometimes, I think it’s just to my dad’s bar. That’s what my dad said at least.”

He huffed, raking his hands through his hair. “Trish said my mom’s barely holding up.”

She gave him a sympathetic look. “Want to talk about something else?”

He gave a small shrug.

“Okay, uh, I have a girlfriend now.”

He turned to her and grinned. “Wait, really?” As far as he knew, Red hadn’t dated dated at all since coming out.

“Yep, Nichole.”

“Wait,” he laughed. “Seriously?”

She nodded. “Yep. Another lesbian from our class.”

“Does Token know?” Nichole and Token were the kind of exes he and Tweek were. Their feelings for each other were left in elementary school and had maintained a friendship. He wasn’t sure if they were necessarily as close as him and Tweek, but there was no hostility there tended to be after relationships when you’re older as far as he knew.

She shrugged. “I’m not sure, she’ll probably tell him eventually.”

He grinned. “Makes me wonder how Stan is doing with Wendy dating Bebe.”

“Apparently he’s known for a while,” she said. “They’ve been dating since high school, they only came out last year.”

Since high school? He remembered Stan and Kyle going as their dates to prom though, unless they were using them as beards. Or they went as friends. He never really bothered to try and find out.

“Well, I’m starved,” she said. “Will Tweek give us free coffee and cupcakes?”

“I don’t know, maybe?”

“Nice, let's go there and try.”

* * *

Red went straight home after they had their lunch, and Craig decided it was best to just let Tweek work. He did give them free stuff though.

He still wasn’t really in the mood to go home, so he opted for just walking aimlessly around the town. That mostly ended up involving ignoring former classmates who waved at him.

He ended up passing Stan’s house, not really by choice. The town was so small was that he could only go so far.

He wasn’t planning on glancing towards his house, but in the corner of his eye he could see Stan was bent over something.

He stopped in his tracks, and saw he bent in front of a car, the hood up. Even from the angle he stood he could tell it was an old one.

He turned to him and licked his lip. “Hey Marsh,” he called. “You seem busy.”

Stan jumped, his head narrowly missing the hood. He whipped around to look at him. “Oh,” he said. “Uh, hey Craig.”

They hadn’t spoken since his apologies about the kiss. Not that they talked much before but the absence of a conversation in person where he made it clear that he really didn’t have a problem with it. Maybe if he hadn’t been so drunk he would’ve let more happen, he hadn’t been with a guy since Thomas. But he didn’t think Stan would actually try and do more if he’d been sober.

“New car?” he asked, nodding to the car.

“Well, new to me,” he said, clutching a spanner. “Piece of shit though.”

He nodded and stepped forward. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Won’t start,” he said.

“I know a little about mechanics, I could help you out.”

He blinked at him. “You do?”

He smirked. “Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I can’t know about ‘manly’ stuff.”

That got the reaction he wanted. The colour drained from his face and he gaped at him. “I wasn’t… I mean I… um…”

He laughed. “I’m just fucking with you.”

His face went bright red. “Oh, right.”

He held out his hand. “Spanner?”

He dropped it in his hand and Craig’s head went in.

“Have you heard any clicking noises?” He asked.

“Clicking noises?”

“When you try to start it, are there clicking noises? That usually means a broken starter.”

“A what?”

His head popped out. “Just answer the question.”

“No, no clicking sounds.”

“Dead battery?”

“No, the headlights turn on fine.”

He huffed and turned back to it. As far as he could tell, there wasn’t anything wrong under the hood.

“Okay,” he said and brought his head back up. “It might be a bad ignition switch. But I’m not the professional.”

“Oh,” he said. “So I have to go out and pay for something?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I can’t fix anything at least.”

He nodded and bit his lip. “Okay, uh, so how’s college?”

He frowned. “Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Pretend that we’re friends. You don’t even know what I’m studying, and I don’t care what you’re studying. So don’t ask about college.”

He scowled at him. “I know your whole thing is being an asshole but I was just trying to make conversation.”

“Well, I don’t care.” He shoved the spanner back in his hand. “Why don’t you bother your own friends?”

“I would if I could. Kenny’s with Butters, I don’t want to hang out with Cartman alone, and Kyle’s busy. What about yours? Tweek’s working?”

“You do know I hang out with my other friends too, right?” he narrowed his eyes at him.

He held his hands up in defence. “Hey, I know. I just know you hang out with him a lot. Rest of your friends busy too?”

His jaw clenched as he nodded. “Yeah, most social contact I’ve had since I’ve gotten back was hanging out with Red.”

“Since when were you two friends?”

“She’s my cousin.”

“Oh.” He shuffled on his feet. “Look, genuinely, do you want to hang out? I’m bored as shit and have no one of hang out with.”

“And what do you suggest we even do?” What did they even have in common? They barely hung out when they grew out of imaginary games and he chose to avoid him at any social events.

“Movie? You can choose.”

He stared at him for a moment, and in truth, he didn’t have much of anything better to do. “Fine,” he said. “Have you seen Love, Simon?”

He shook his head. “No, I wasn’t out when it came out and I guess I never got around to it.”

He nodded. “Okay, come on, time for you to get cultured.”

Stan was mostly quiet through the movie. Craig glanced at him a couple of times to see how he reacted to certain scenes, but his eyes stayed fixed on the TV screen. It made him wonder if he’d even seen a queer movie, and especially how closeted he actually was.

Was he still closeted? He hadn’t bothered to check. He should maybe probably check on that. He doesn’t think Stan would’ve come out to him sober.

He turned to him as the credits rolled, Stan’s eyes pulling from the screen. “What’d you think?”

He bit his lip as he turned to him. “I’ve never seen a movie like that. I always avoided it.”

He nodded. “Are you even out to anymore? Other than that one guy you mentioned?”

“Just my friends and my parents. That’s about it. I more the kind of out that just mentions it when it comes up.”

“And your ex?”

“He was only out to friends. Not his parents though. But, uh, he wasn’t as casual as I was I guess.”

“So you didn’t wake up in horror over outing yourself to me?”

He sighed. “Please don’t bring that night up. No, I didn’t care about that. _You_ of all people would definitely not give a shit.”

He was on edge, and he couldn’t stop himself from pushing him just a little more.

“Well, at least I have confirmation you find me attractive.”

He expected him to get annoyed, for his face to turn red, for him to sputter denials.

Instead, his eyes shifted to his lap. “Well, you’re not bad to look at.”

He sat up straight, his eyes fixing on him. That was not to response he’d expected. What he’d expected was for him to insult him, to criticise his ego, or to just deny it.

The thing was, a piece of him always thought Stan was kind of cute. He was always too focussed on how much he’d disliked him to really notice.

“Well then, if you ever wanted to kiss me all you had to do was ask.”

He turned to look at him, like he was trying to figure out whether he was joking or not.

“Funny,” he said flatly.

He smiled. Maybe it was because he didn’t really have anyone else to hang out with, maybe it was because the one thing he really remembered about the kiss was how soft his lips were, or maybe Stan was just there but he kind of wanted to go through with that kiss.

He shuffled a little closer next to him, and Stan sat still watching him as he did. His eyes were fixed on his like he was waiting for something he wouldn’t expect. He leaned a little closer to him, resting his arms in his lap and smiled.

“You’re not so bad to look at either.”

He stared at him and chewed his lip. “Well then, I’d like a repeat of that night.”

He didn’t respond verbally. He took Stan’s face in his hands and pulled him so their lips met.

The kiss made Craig not care that they were probably only here because they were both lonely and Stan wasn’t over his ex and Craig hadn’t had any sexual contact with a guy in so long. The part of him that wasn’t casual didn’t feel that that was where this moment was leading him and that knowing Stan for so many years made it not feel casual.

That even if it lead to nothing, Stan was a distraction from the disaster at home and the impending truth that he wouldn’t see the friends he grew up with as much anymore.

He could pretend for at least a little time that life was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Red is a lesbian? Red is a lesbian.
> 
> Red and Craig are cousins? Red and Craig are cousins.
> 
> Staig? STAIG!


	32. Chapter 32

April had kept her promise about getting him a job. She did ask him to come in for a trial shift to see how he handled customers. She mostly had him do barista work but it was clearly just a formality.

He ended the day with a full time job that started in two weeks. He and Clyde had already found an apartment they could move into in three.

Now he just had to let his parents know. He wasn’t exactly sure how they’d react, but he knew it wouldn’t be in his favour. He was their crutch when they retired because they were too cheap to hire any employees.

But he’d stopped caring. He didn’t have to live with them. He already let them stop him from going to college, but this time he wasn’t going to stop doing what he wanted because they told him he couldn’t.

His parents weren’t home when he got back, they usually weren’t until later in the night. He and Clyde had already signed the contract. It was a pretty small place and a lot of students stayed in the complex. His job along with his savings meant he and Clyde were going to live pretty comfortably.

He hadn’t been the most social the past few days, today was his first day off in days and it wasn’t even technically a day off. He’d only seen his friends once other than Clyde. And the funny thing was he didn’t necessarily feel the need to run to them. Like he was actually getting used to seeing them far less.

That was a feeling he didn’t like at all.

He messaged the group chat to see if anyone was around. Everyone else seemed to have their own things going on, things that usually took up their free time together. Whether it be Token studying a lot, Jimmy working on his stand up routines, or Craig… actually he wasn’t sure what Craig was doing. He met up with him when he got home but he’d been working too much to ask.

Maybe he should actually spend time with him. He knew his parents were divorcing and he definitely wasn’t in the best head space because of it. He probably wanted some company.

Tweek: _wanna hang out?_

He stared at his screen for a moment, hoping for a quick response. Usually he got a decently quick reply and he doubted he was too busy to give him a response.

He smiled when he saw the dots.

Craig: _sure come over_

He smiled and walked the short distance to his house. He could at least pretend it was like old times when he saw him.

He let himself in and saw Craig was already sat on the couch. His laptop was in his lap and he was smiling at something on his screen.

The door closing got his attention and he looked over his screen and smiled at him. “Hey, dude.”

“Hey,” he smiled and sat next to him. “What you all smiley about?”

He hadn’t him smiling so much in a while. Especially with his family situation, he didn’t expect such a good mood.

“Well,” he said. “I’m dating someone.”

Dating someone? Craig? He knew it would happen again eventually but Craig hadn’t really mentioned there being any guys in his life.

“Yeah,” he nodded and smiled. “You’d be shocked to know who it is.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “Wait, I know him?

He laughed, which hopefully meant he was done with his teasing. “Yeah. It’s Stan.”

He almost fell off the couch, so his shock was clear to Craig, who laughed again. “Yeah, I know.”

“Wait, wait, go back. Since when was Stan queer? Also, how does that even happen?” He didn’t understand. Craig went on about how much he’d disliked Stan and his friends. He always found reason to complain about them, why would he suddenly turn around and date Stan who was basically the leader of the pack?

So Craig went into an explanation about how he’d found Stan crying after Clyde’s party back at Christmas and while taking him home a drunken coming out and kiss was involved. Then he ran into him the other day and they talked a little, which lead to hanging out, which lead to where they were now.

It still made zero sense to him.

Everything really was changing. Changing to the point nothing could stop. Before he knew it, he wouldn’t even be talking to his childhood friends anymore.

“It’s not that weird, is it?” Craig asked when he finished his story and Tweek was mostly still and silent.

He shook his head furiously. “No. I don’t know. It’s just unexpected I guess. Maybe I just didn’t think he was your type.”

“Still hung up on the whole accusation of blonds being my type, huh?” he teased.

“Fine, you proved me wrong,” he said and crossed his arms over his chest. “I just thought you didn’t like him.”

“Maybe I was just always hot for him? Ever think of that?”

He knew he was joking but he still hit him with the cushion next to him. Craig laughed. “I don’t know, I thought I didn’t like him either. I guess I can’t explain it.”

He nodded. “Well, I can’t judge if you think it makes sense,” he shrugged. “The rest of the guys are going to give you so much hell for it though.”

He groaned. “Fuck, yeah. They’re gonna love making fun of me for it.”

“Yep, they will.”

“Oh don’t act like you won’t either.”

He grinned. “You’re right, I will.”

…

Much like Craig had expected, Clyde, Token, and Jimmy found him deciding to date Stan absolutely hilarious. And they saw fit to make fun of him for it.

Stan had told him his friends had pretty much given him the same reaction. Butters was really the only one who gave him a happy reaction without a tease involved.

Stan ended up taking most of his free time. They didn’t necessarily talk all that much, they mostly made out in his car (and he gave Stan head one time) after he got a new ignition switch.

They were technically boyfriends. But it also didn’t feel like something Craig wanted to dedicate all of his time to. Not that he didn’t enjoy their time together. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it, but he was enjoying it in the moment. For once, he really needed to let his logical side go and just enjoy himself. He enjoyed spending time with him but he wouldn’t say he missed him when he was gone.

It wasn’t like he’d ever be like Clyde, but it was clearly something that was temporary. If it became more then than that wouldn’t be bad. He just didn’t see heartbreak at its end.

But he was a really good kisser which was what he’d cared about most.

Stan usually had the house to himself since his parents were at work and his sister had moved out a few years ago.

That typically translated to a lot of kissing. Stan refused to make out in his car anymore after the police checked to see why exactly there was a lone car in the mall’s parking lot at 11 o’clock at night. Craig laughed most of the way home while Stan was bright red. He at least got a kiss when he dropped him off.

They were in the middle of an episode of Parks and Rec and Stan had moved to rest his head in his lap while he sat on his bed. Craig lazily ran his fingers through his hair.

He was only half watching the TV, he was a little too distracted by Stan. Stan was turned on his side so he could watch the TV properly. He looked so comfortable and his heart kind of fluttered at he stared down at him.

He brushed his fingers against his cheekbone and bit his lip as he smile when Stan smiled and batted his hand away.

“That tickles,” he muttered.

“Want me to stop?” he asked, brushing his fingers against the same spot.

Stan laughed and sat up, and moved to straddle his lap. He wrapped his arms around his neck an kissed him. Craig laughed against his lips and kissed him back, going back to rubbing his cheekbone with his thumb.

Stan was a pretty rough kisser, which wasn’t necessarily Craig’s preferred type of kissing. But he was good at it so he wasn’t sure he cared all that much.

To his disappointment, he pulled away and what Craig was hoping to see was him look all cute and flustered. But he was giving him that look where he seemed nervous to ask something. It was a weird pout that he had always found kind of annoying.

“Yeah?” He forced himself to make it sound nice. He still had some ill will towards Stan but he knew any kind of bite in his tone wouldn’t be the best idea.

“Nothing, just thinking about something Cartman said.”

He raised his brow at him. Anything that had to do with Cartman was usually never a good thing. “What did he say?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he dismissed as he shook his head. “Let’s just go back to kissing.”

He leaned forward but Craig stopped him, placed his fingers over his lips. “What did he say Stan?”

Stan was silent for a moment then his shoulders slumped and huffed. “Okay, so, there’s like this rumour…” he trailed off, his voice slightly catching in his throat. Craig kept his eyes on him.

“What rumour?”

His teeth sunk into his bottom lip. “Well, after you and Tweek went to prom together–”

“As _friends_.”

“And people knew you two stayed in a hotel room together–”

“Because my ex-boyfriend was meant to and he dumped me right before prom.”

“Some people just think you two, like, had sex.”

Craig opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. What was he meant to say exactly? Lie? Say it never happened and it was just rumours? Say his first time had been with Thomas or some made up guy he met a college?

They hadn’t had sex all the way quite yet, all the had under their belt was that car blowjob. Afterwards, Stan asked if he’d had sex yet and Craig let out a hasty “only twice.” Stan had his ex-boyfriend, and it wasn’t like he’d keep count of something like that.

He hadn’t told him he and Tweek had had sex because it wasn’t an important detail. Now he realised if he said they had, he’d probably have to defend himself and say he didn’t have feelings with Tweek just because they had sex one time and dated when they were little kids.

He didn’t want Stan to get jealous like Jordan had. And Stan wasn’t like a guy he’d meet in the future who wasn’t from South Park. Stan had actually witnessed his and Tweek’s relationship, he could easily have suspicion they still had feelings for each other. He was there to see the hand holding and the pet names and the first day he and Tweek had officially came out. He was exactly the kind of person who would think there was something between them.

But he didn’t want to lie. That was just an all around bad idea.

He let out a long sigh.

“Why do people think that?” he asked first, deciding to tread the waters a little.

“Someone, I don’t know who because I’m just hearing this from Cartman, said they saw you buying condoms. I don’t know, I guess people just assume stuff or whatever.”

He licked his lip. Definitely worth just telling the truth. “Well, uh, yeah we did. But it was just because we didn’t want to lose our virginities to some asshole. No other reason.”

“Oh,” Stan said and blinked at him. “Okay, whatever. Just wanted to know and all.”

He watched him, prepared for him to accuse him on having feelings for him, something stupid like that.

But it never came. Even if he had something to say about it, he seemed to have decided to not mention it. It was a relief when he kissed him and they left the conversation behind them.


	33. Chapter 33

Telling his parents of his plan to move out was surprisingly easier than Tweek thought it would be. 

Sure, he got a reaction of not being taken too seriously but they weren’t attempting to stop him. His dad did ask him if he would still taste test coffee and his resounding ‘no’ did seem to disappoint him. Tweek just assumed he’d do it himself or make him mom do it instead. He was just happy that he won’t have to taste test anymore. 

His new job was going well. After the first week, he’d adapted to the new role so easily. The scent of baked goods had become something he’d associated with happiness. Tweek Bros. was so behind him that he was ready to forget everything about it.

He liked his coworkers too. He’d met those who worked up the front plenty of times but he got to meet the bakers too. Doug, Natalie, and Farah. They worked in the back and got in extremely early in the morning so he rarely saw them. But from what he could tell, everyone was pretty nice. 

He had to get up pretty early to make his shift on time but today, he and Clyde were moving into their apartment. Which was a pretty easy walking distance from the bakery. 

The one issue was the moving in part. Their apartment was unfurnished and Tweek couldn’t drive while Clyde was still saving for a car. Clyde’s dad’s car was too small to carry all their stuff. 

When they’d brought that up to Craig, he seemed to almost light up and say “Stan’s got a stationwagon”. 

And that was how he ended up in the backseat of Stan’s car while Stan drove them to Denver. Clyde was next to him and Craig, of course, sat in the front with him. Which wasn’t a fun experience when the car looked like it would explode any second. 

It was still hard for him to wrap his head around the fact Craig was dating Stan. He hadn’t joined in with their friends making fun of him for it but it was an odd coupling to him. 

But Craig seemed pretty happy about it so it wasn’t like he could or would say anything bad about it. As long as it wasn’t a repeat with his high school boyfriend. 

He wasn’t sure if Stan would be the sort to not hurt him but Tweek wasn’t sure if Craig would even be able to care about Stan in such a way.

He seemed happy though, and he was giving him small touches. For a person who hated PDA, he sure loved giving the guy he was dating those sort of touches. Like he’d done to him. Typically when they were watching movies, a habit that had began when his anxiety used to be really bad. Craig mostly figured out for himself the best ways to help him out. 

He must’ve been staring a little too much, because Clyde gave him a nudge. He turned his eyes back to his phone. The affection between them made him realise how single he was. Maybe he’d be able to find a boyfriend now that he wasn’t mostly confine to South Park.

“So is this place furnished?” Stan asked. 

“Nope,” Clyde said. “Other than a futon each.” 

“I do have a decent amount of money saved up,” Tweek interjected. “We should be able to furnish it decently after a while. Plus, my job pays pretty well.”

“And how is Clyde paying rent?” Craig asked, turning in his seat. He had his seatbelt on, which Tweek couldn’t say the same for Clyde and Stan. Tweek always got overly anxious when he saw people not wearing seatbelts, and Craig was the only one to ever wear his. He knew it likely wasn’t a common habit but he still appreciated him doing it when he was in the car just to make him feel good about his safety. 

“I told you, my Twitch channel is going good!” Clyde grinned, sitting up straight. 

He knew Craig and Stan both held back groans but as long as he made rent, Tweek didn’t care all that much. 

“We do need to go to Ikea,” Tweek said. “It’s cheap and good.”

He groaned. “We have to put everything together ourselves though.”

“Yeah, because pre-made furniture is really fucking expensive.”

Craig laughed. “Two friends of mine from college have their own place off campus and they’ve still barely furnished it. We’re young enough to get away with it.”

“Our place isn’t even that big though,” Clyde said. “We should fill it up eventually.”

Craig looked at him like he wanted to make a snide comment, probably about his job, but he turned back round forward and went back to playing with Stan’s hair. 

When they got there, Stan and Craig offered to help bring things up. Clyde went up first to unlock the door while the rest of them unloaded Stan’s car. 

“Good luck living with him,” Craig said, taking out a few boxes. “He will definitely not pull his weight around.”

Tweek rolled his eyes. “Well, it’s better than my parents.” He and Craig picked up a box each and walked inside while Stan stayed back to watch their things. 

“So…” Tweek began, letting himself trail off a little while the waited for the elevator.

“So what?” Craig asked, raising his brow at him.

“You like Stan a lot then?” 

He blinked and him and gave a shrug. “I guess? He’s a good kisser for one thing. I don’t think it’ll last.”

He cocked his head to the side. “That’s optimistic.”

He laughed as they elevator doors opened. “It’s not so serious,” he said as they stepped in. “I think I need to attempt to have something casual.”

“Dating a guy you’ve grown up with might not count as casual.” 

He gave him a light playful shove with his elbow. “Look, if it turns into something more then cool. But it’s not like we’re putting our backs into it.”

“Well, he did drive us to Denver just because you asked,” Tweek pointed out. 

Craig bit his lip into a smile. “Okay, maybe I like him quite a bit.”

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out. Clyde had left he door opened and they stepped in.

It was really tiny, a small kitchenette leading into a small living room. There were two bedrooms and one bathroom between them. They at least weren’t sharing a wall and that would hopefully block out any noise between Clyde and any girl he brought back. 

“Wow,” Craig said. “This is smaller than my suite I stayed in Freshman year.”

“And it’s all we can afford,” Tweek shrugged. 

“It’s also bigger than my two person dorm rooms from my first two years,” Clyde said. 

“Well, you gonna get your shit?” Craig asked. 

He nodded and they went back downstairs to get the rest of their things.


	34. Chapter 34

Friday night guys’ night had become entirely null and void now that Clyde and Tweek lived in Denver. Guys’ night had been dwindling out little by little with how busy they all had been.

Usually Craig would stay up in his room playing video games, which is what he actually had wanted to do, but Stan asked him to hang out. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing typically, but he asked him to hang out with him and his friends. Not something he’d choose.

But he liked Stan a lot. A lot more then he thought we would’ve. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to hang out with them for one night.

Unless he ended up outside of the country again in some sort of government conspiracy. That should be a fair reason to not hang out with them ever again.

Stan had said they were hanging out at his place, so he got there early. They were just going to be playing Mario Cart but Craig had already decided he was going to be as little social as he possibly could. He hadn’t hung out with them at all since he and Stan got together. He hadn’t really wanted to, and Stan knew he couldn’t stand them. But he knew part of being a good boyfriend was hanging out with his boyfriend’s friends. Even if he hated them. He especially didn’t want to deal with any of Cartman’s homophobia that would one-hundred per cent occur.

He was the first to arrive at his house. He purposely got there early because if he was made to spend his night with people he didn’t want to, he was going to kiss his boyfriend at least a little bit goddamnit.

When he knocked on the door, Stan answered with a grin.

“Hey,” he said and pecked in cheek and took his hand to pull him inside. He was ready to kiss him on the lips but when he looked over his shoulder he saw Kyle was already there.

He really shouldn’t be surprised about that.

“Hey Craig,” Kyle said nonchalantly.

“Hey,” he replied, the annoyance obvious in his tone. Stan gave him a look that was definitely telling him off for talking to his best friend like that. He held back a sigh but didn’t repeat himself.

Instead, he sat on the couch. The Switch was already set up and Stan had those steering wheel controllers with the regular controller already in it and ready to use.

“Cartman, Kenny, and Butters should be here soon,” Stan said sitting between him and Kyle. “We can start a race now.”

“Nah, we should wait. You know how Cartman is when we don’t wait for him,” Kyle said. “And we still need popcorn.”

“You know where it is,” Stan shrugged.

Kyle stared at him for moment, then his eyes shifted to Craig for maybe half a second before standing up and going into the kitchen.

He and Kyle never really got along but for Craig’s sake, he was going to at least try and get along with him.

Though he did sense a certain amount of coldness, which didn’t make him necessarily want to put too much effort into it. Stan probably asked him to be civil like he had to him, Craig wasn’t really even sure how Kyle had reacted when Stan told him they were dating. Stan hadn’t said anything in particular, other than his friends teased him for it, but Craig had to assume it wasn’t a terrible reaction. He doubted Stan would’ve invited him if there was a lot of hostility.

It was just Kyle anyway. He didn’t care what he thought, and he could handle Stan’s friends for a few hours of Mario Cart.

“So, I was meaning to bring up,” Stan said turning to him. “My dad saw yours at the supermarket the other day.”

He blinked at him. “And?”

“Does your dad know that we’re dating?”

He hadn’t. He hadn’t been talking to his dad much at all lately, and he definitely wouldn’t be telling him about who he was dating. “Uh, no. For reasons. Why?”

“My dad’s an idiot and he told your dad we’re dating. I thought you should know in case he didn’t know and you were like, avoiding it.”

“Oh,” was all he could say. He wasn’t necessarily hiding it from his dad but now it looked like he was. His dad had spent the last ten years trying to show him he did still love him even if he was gay. Not that he knew that his previous homophobic attitude pushed his nine and ten year old self further into the closet, but his dad was the type to overcompensate, which had only been amplified with the divorce.

His dad would definitely think he was purposely not telling him and that would lead to him trying to show he can trust him or something. Really, he just hadn’t thought of telling him and he knew at this point his dad literally had no negative thoughts over his sexuality. He and Stan hadn’t even been together for that long, he probably would’ve gotten around to telling him eventually.

“Look, it’s no big deal,” Craig shrugged. “But thanks for letting me know, now I don’t gave to tell him.”

He nodded. “Are you okay by the way? With your parents divorcing?”

He bit his lip. That was one topic they hadn’t discussed because he didn’t want to. He didn’t even talk about it with his friends, not even Tricia or Red. He preferred to pretend to his best ability it wasn’t even happening.

“Can we please talk about anything else?” Craig said. “I would rather to not even acknowledge that.”

Stan’s expression dropped, and he got that annoying look of pity. He gave him a small nod and Craig had never been so relieved to see Kyle walk into the room.

* * *

Craig knew his parents still wanted him and Tricia to have relationships with the both of them, which was why his mom was making him and Tricia go to Uncle Skeeter’s for dinner to see their dad.

They hadn’t seen much of their dad at all. They hadn’t even spoken to him over the phone. Tricia had her own priorities, and when not spending time with Stan, Craig was hanging out with his friends. He still held his bitterness about his dad cheating on his mom, so that was enough reason to not say anything to him.

Red was going to be there too anyway, so he could put his attention to her than to his dad.

Another piece of the night he was absolutely not looking forward to was that his dad would definitely bring up him and Stan. Bringing up him and Stan meant awkward conversations and god fucking forbid any sex conversations. Even the mere idea of that made him shutter. He knew he could have had it worse, that his dad could’ve never come around but that didn’t mean he wanted to talk about his relationship. _Especially_ not when their dads were friends. It was bad enough when he and Tweek were dating.

He and Tricia walked the short distance, and Tricia kept her earphones in the entire time. Craig didn’t mind, it gave him time to think things through. Red had told him it didn’t look like he was going to bother to move out any time soon. Craig assumed it was because it’d cost too much to get a new place on his own. Craig wasn’t quite sure how his mom was affording everything on her own, but he knew she went from part time to full time at the bank, and her welfare situation probably changed too. It made him feel guilty for how much college cost and how bad he was doing during it. It was like he was going to have a lot of debt for no reason.

Maybe he should’ve just gone to community college instead of living out some dream he had when he was eight.

Tricia kept her earphones in when they got to Uncle Skeeter’s. They let themselves in and Craig could already smell the food from the kitchen.

“Uncle Skeeter!” Craig called. A moment later Uncle Skeeter’s head popped out from the kitchen.

“Hey kids,” he said. “Your dad’s napping in his room and Red’s in her’s. Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes.” He stepped back into the kitchen swiftly.

Tricia dropped onto the couch, but Craig stared at the stairs for a moment and decided to make his way upstairs.

His knuckles wrapped on Red’s door. “Red!”

A moment later Red opened the door and she gave him an annoyed look. “Dinner’s not even ready yet.”

“My mom wanted me and Trish to get here early,” he shrugged. He looked over her shoulder to see a familiar face. “Hey, Nichole.”

Nichole was sat on the floor with a laptop in her lap. He hadn’t spent much time with Nichole at all. She gave him a blank look and an unenthused “Hi, Craig” before going back to the laptop in her lap.

They weren’t necessarily friends, despite her dating Token briefly. Craig remembered all too well the awkward double dates Token had made him and Tweek go on with them when they were trying to get back together after the mass breakup that murdered all the straight guys in their school. It could maybe possibly have to do with the fact he never really bothered to make friends with any of the girls in their grade. And made fun of them a lot. It brought a vivid memory of some girl named Lizzy telling him no girl would date him ever because of his attitude. Which was pretty hilarious considering it was only a little time before he’d realised he was gay.

Maybe he should at least try and get along with his cousin’s girlfriend. It only seemed fair.

But he could tell that right now he wasn’t wanted. He cleared his throat. “Okay, just wanted to say hi. I’ll be down with Trish.”

Red nodded. “Whatever.”

He turned around back to the hallway, and closed Red’s door behind him. He was planning to just go downstairs and maybe just fuck around on his phone until dinner was ready.

“Craig?”

Or maybe not.

He held back a sigh as he turned around. “Hey, dad.”

His dad looked like a more tired version of himself. It made him wonder how much he’d been overworking himself in the past six months.

Craig knew he should care but he just didn’t. Maybe he could’ve if his cheating had been a one time thing but knowing it wasn’t the first time made him not want to.

“How’ve you been?” his dad asked. A pathetic attempt to make conversation.

“Fine.” His tone was flat. He was only there because his mom wanted him to. But he’d be happy to never see his dad again. He wasn’t sure whether or not that bitterness would ever pass but right now, he was happy to live in his anger.

“So, I ran into Randy the other day and–”

This time, he did let out a loud, annoyed sigh. Enough to stop his dad mid-sentence. “Yeah, Stan told me he told you I’m dating him.”

He seemed taken aback by his tone. Craig didn’t even find himself feeling bad about it.

He knew that wasn’t what his mom wanted. He was meant to be maintaining a relationship with him, not being nothing but hostile towards him. But really, it should already be enough that he’d even come over. Dinner hadn’t even started and he was already ready to go home.

“Uh, yeah, that,” he nodded. “I just wanted to say I like that kid.”

He wanted to shout at him he didn’t care if he liked Stan. What he thought about any guy he dated didn’t matter to him to any capacity.

Instead, he just gave him a small nod before wordlessly going downstairs to sit with Tricia.


	35. Chapter 35

For Craig’s third year of college, he roomed with Nathan again. They’d made good roommates previously so living together again felt like a good idea. Craig just assumed that he’d be living on his own in his final year since Nathan would have graduated by then.

He and Stan had stayed in contact. They weren’t texting constantly but they were talking. Their relationship was still confusing. It was easier to like him romantically when he was in front of him and they could spend most of the time kissing. He knew long distance relationships weren’t easy but he was pretty sure things weren’t meant to fizzle out that quickly or that easily.

He couldn’t say it was that different as with his friends. Sure they were talking but it wasn’t like their first year of college. Now Token was too busy with debating, or Jimmy had to work on a routine, or Tweek was too busy with work, or Clyde was too busy with whatever social event.

Craig hadn’t really found much of anything he could put all of his energy in. Nathan was still trying to get him out but he never went beyond things held by the college’s queer centre.

His grades had been… okay. Some classes most people would pin as ‘easy A’s’ were fine but he couldn’t say the same for the rest of his classes. He was still barely scraping by, only getting grades barely good enough. He wasn’t sure how he was going to make it out of this with both a degree and his sanity. He was only halfway through and he was already sacrificing the latter to get the former.

Usually the only person he had to lean on was Stan or Tweek. Tweek working all day made Stan his only option most of the time. Stan was the type to just skip lectures and read the ones the professors posted instead of actually going. They didn’t talk about much, just mostly keeping each other updated on their lives. Craig didn’t really want to talk about his bad grades with anyone really.

Really, having Stan as a line of communication was a nice change in routine. It wasn’t so different that it was jarring but it was something noticeable in his routine. Not a constant, but it was nice it was there.

Nathan, Seth, and Alex seemed to be surprised he actually snatched up a boyfriend with how introverted and asocial he could be. But they were interested in hearing about him and the typical how they met stuff. He kept his story brief, how they’d known each other since they were little kids and that they had their first kiss after he showed him Love, Simon. He left out the part of Stan’s drunken night, he and Stan liked to pretend that that night had never happened.

He showed them a picture of the two of them, and when Alex made a joke about how it must be his lock screen, Craig kind of realised that it actually wasn’t. His lock screen was a picture of him and Tweek from when they went to Vegas. He didn’t typically change his lock screen much since he was picky, but he liked the picture of the two of them. He hadn’t thought to change it.

It hadn’t occurred to him that it was weird until Alex’s joke. He had given a quick nod and a fake smile before shoving his phone in his pocket and making a mental note to change his lock screen to that picture of him and Stan later.

* * *

 

The Ikea trip had been a semi-success. Clyde’s dad had to drive down since Clyde was still saving up for his own car. They were slowly accumulating furniture but so far they only had a couch, a dinner table, and two chairs. They at least had plates and cutlery so it could be worse Tweek figured.

Living with Clyde had actually forced him to be a bit more social that he used to be. And more than he’d had on a frequent basis since… well, really since he’d graduated high school.

Living on his own had been a nice change. His mom only called up to check on him to see if he changed his mind in the first month. Now she seemed to have accepted that living on his own was what he wanted. He wasn’t sure if it was the same for his dad but he seemed to only care about him when he got some sort of gain from it. During his mom’s calls, he did ask how he was and she told him that he’d been working a lot and had left it at that.

Working at Sweet Dreams Delights was a good change in his routine. He woke up kind of looking forward to getting out of bed and going to work. He liked his coworkers, the customers were nice, and he actually got paid a decent amount.

He pretty much spent his day making coffee – that tasted far better than in parents’, giving customers their deserts and whatnot, and doing the small amount of baking he was qualified to do. Which was usually taking things out of the oven after the bakers had left. He’d idly mentioned he liked baking and they did encourage him to go and do it for real. He still liked the idea of that, and he hadn’t realised how free living on his own would feel. Technically he could go and get a baking qualification if he could put money towards it.

He had put thought into it, mostly looking at the possibility of looking into where he could go that was close by.

But for now, he enjoyed his job. Maybe not so much Clyde forcing him to be social because sometimes his anxiety made him scared he’d somehow embarrass himself. But being at least a little social was nice. Even if he just sat on his phone at a party in a nearby apartment or on the actual campus. Clyde had his own established friend group and they were welcoming, for a group of straight guys.

That was the one flaw, Clyde’s friends were really, really straight. They weren’t cat calling random girls straight, but they were talking about girls they hooked up with straight. They at least weren’t go into absolute panic if they were around a gay guy straight.

That was mostly why he preferred to keep to himself. He could only tune out their conversations so much. Most people ignored him anyway, no one really bothered to talk to the wallflower. That was probably why he and Craig complimented each other so well. The only difference was that Craig did it by choice, while Tweek was mostly held back by his anxiety.

Clyde wasn’t necessarily forcing him to go but he did desire to be social if given the opportunity. But he didn’t know how to make conversation with strangers. Mostly it felt like he was waiting for people to come and talk to him.

The one bad thing was that every night ended with having to drag Clyde home. That became mostly why he went to parties with him. It made him wonder how many times Clyde had left parties too drunk to get home. That was good enough reason to go even if he didn’t socialise.

He did come to the conclusion that he was never going to be a fan of parties, especially when he knew no one.


	36. Chapter 36

Coming home for the holidays felt different, even though Craig had expected it would be. In his time at college, his parents’ divorce was finalised. His mom got the house and custody of Tricia, and his dad was still at Uncle Skeeter’s. Craig wasn’t sure if he had plans to move out.

Usually his first move when getting home was going to see Tweek or Clyde. But they were still in Denver, so he couldn’t even go to Tweek Bros. for a quick cup of their terrible coffee just to see him. It was a weird thing missing from his routine.

Jimmy and Token weren’t home either. Which left him with only one option, Stan.

His and Stan’s relationship was still quite… weird. They talked while separated, but it seemed more often than not they only had stilted conversations while they waited until they were both alone in their dorms to masturbate together. Which he didn’t pin as necessarily a bad thing, it was actually really fucking awesome. The problem was that he was almost using him as a distraction, and Stan wasn’t putting his back into it either. It didn’t even feel like that phase of a relationship where you always wanted to touch them, it just seemed like that was all their relationship was. And he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or if he should keep pretending it was.

So after he texted Stan he thought to himself, could he even see himself falling in love with Stan? And no, he didn’t. Because he was there for the physical part and something told him Stan wasn’t over his ex. Like he was just there for a rebound, which he really should’ve realised from the start. With the condition Stan was in the night he told him he was bi, he doubted he had had time for any other people to help him get over this guy.

When he’d texted Stan about coming over, he got an immediate okay. When he got there and knocked on the door, Stan answered so quickly, it was like he’d been waiting for him.

What he didn’t expect was that he was looking at him glumly. Stan usually kissed him when he saw him, and with the four months apart Craig expected he’d at least hug him or something.

“Hey, I’m glad you texted,” he said letting him in. Craig turned to him as he slowly closed the door.

“Really?” Craig asked. Why felt like it was obvious. Feeling upset about it should be a given. But it didn’t even feel like he had to prepare himself as the words fell from Stan’s lips.

“I think we should breakup.”

Craig wasn’t sure what reaction Stan had expected. People knew he could be quite apathetic, and Stan of all people wouldn’t be the one he’d open up to. But it was still a relationship and Stan probably didn’t expect to see his shoulders relax. “Yeah, I think so too.”

They stared at each other for a moment, as if waiting for the other to say something else about it. Then they both laughed.

“Okay, that was easier than I thought it’d be,” Stan said.

“What? You thought I’d start grovelling on my knees or something?”

“No. I guess I don’t really know what I expected. But I guess I should remember you’re you.”

He shrugged. “Well, lets not act like we were all lovey dovey. You just wanted more dick.”

“You were much more enthusiastic about sucking dick. How are gay guys far more into it than girls? I don’t get it.”

“I’m probably the wrong person to ask.”

“True.” A beat passed. “I do think we could’ve been good, which I guess was why I wanted to try. But if I’m being honest, I’m still really hung up on my ex and that’s not fair to you.”

He nodded, not really minding at all he was outwardly called a rebound. “Has things changed at all?”

He shook his head. “No, he’s still not ready to be out. I don’t even know where we stand, I haven’t talked to him about it. But I guess I’ve learnt asking someone to be fully open about their sexuality is a lot to ask. Not everyone can be fully out. It was shitty of me to get angry at him for it.”

Craig was starting to get the fuller picture of the situation. Stan fell for a mostly closeted guy but wanted to be out. That was a conflict he’d definitely have to figure out for himself. He and Stan were completely out, which Stan probably saw him as a welcome change. Hopefully he’d learn that it’s not easy for everyone and he and whoever this guy was could work things out.

“Good luck then,” he said. “Hopefully you’ll win this guy back.”

He nodded. “So, anyway, friends?” He asked and offered as fist bump.

He stared at him for a moment, and despite the bitterness he still held over the $100 and Puru and almost being eaten (or whatever he was trying to do) by Mr Garrison, he nodded and bumped his fist against Stan’s. “Friends.”

* * *

Craig’s dad had texted him asking him to come over. He seemed pretty frantic about it and usually Craig wouldn’t care, but with how insistent he was Craig decided that ultimately, he should at least go. He was still furious at his dad but for the sake of his mom and her wanting him and Tricia to still have some sort of relationship with him, he went.

What he didn’t expect to see was in the driveway a third car. It was an old red Mazda 2, maybe ten years old. It looked like a piece of shit really. Even from where he was standing he could see it was covered in scratched and dints. And on top of that it was the three door kind. Did it even run properly?

It must’ve been Red’s. But surely Uncle Skeeter brought in enough money to get a much more decent car. Not a new car but at least one from this decade.

Before he could knock on the door, the door swung open and his dad stepped out.

“Hey, Craig,” he dad said and before Craig could object, hugged him. His dad wasn’t the affectionate type, and their relationship was so stilted after the divorce. This was his way of trying to repair that relationship and all it did was make him uncomfortable.

He made no attempt to hug him back. He didn’t want to deal with the fake affection that wasn’t even there before.

His dad stepped away and was still grinning. He turned towards the car and grinned. “What do you think of her?”

Why would his dad ask him about Red’s car? And why would he even look at it like that? Doesn’t he even realise it was a piece of crap–

“Figured you should have something for when you graduate.”

Oh. Oh fuck. The monstrosity that looked like it was close to exploding wasn’t Red’s. It was his. Because of course divorce guilt was going to come eventually and of course his dad would only do the most with the little money he had. Hence a shitty Mazda.

“Now, I know it’s not fancy,” his dad continued as Craig just stood in silence. “It does run but it needs work. I was thinking we could work on it together.”

He stiffly turned to his dad and nodded. It was times like that that made him wonder if his dad was trying to force him to compensate for any masculinity that might’ve been lost through him being gay. Sure, he liked mechanics but his dad wanting to do some father-son bonding through it made him wary. It was like the older he got the more his dad realised how gay he actually was. Even with whatever acceptance he showed him, Craig always felt there was a layer of homophobia still under there somewhere.

“Sure,” he said. “Thanks, dad.”

* * *

Craig showing up outside his and Clyde’s apartment in what was definitely some sort of death trap was not what Tweek wanted to see fifteen minutes after getting home from work.

Christmas had passed with Clyde going home and Tweek staying home to entertain himself on his new Switch. Despite him not celebrating Christmas, his friends always still bought him gifts. It was usually smaller things, like a movie or some kind of coffee beans or even a novelty mug. But apparently Clyde’s Twitch channel was doing better than he’d initially thought and his gift to him was a Switch preinstalled with Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee. He did immediately buy Stardew Valley simple because he liked simplistic games like that, it was like how Animal Crossing soothed his anxiety.

He let Craig in and instead of dusting off the snow from his hat like he usually would, he took his hat off altogether. “Hey, dude,” he said with a grin.

“Hey,” he smiled. “What is that bomb down there by the way?”

“My divorce guilt present,” he said. “My dad and I spent all day yesterday trying to fix it up. It shouldn’t explode on the road.” He scanned the living room, probably taking in how much had changed about it in the past few months. “Wow, this looks cool.”

He shrugged. “It’s still nothing, I don’t even have a dresser.”

“You have a closet though,” he pointed out, falling down on the couch. “So how’s the job going?”

“Good,” he said sitting next to him. “Actually, I’m thinking of switching to part time and going to get a baking qualification.”

Craig seemed to light up at the news. “Wait, really dude? That’s awesome!”

He laughed. “Yeah, I figured since I can why not, right?”

“Right! And your cupcakes were the best thing in your parents’ coffee place.”

He smiled. It reminded Tweek of how Craig would always order the same cupcakes that it got to the point he’d save him one and give it to him for free. That created a habit that lasted for a while where they would split one and eat it together. When they were dating, Craig would always kiss off frosting on his lips.

He wasn’t sure why his mind went there, but he gave Craig a playful nudge. “That’s because the coffee sucked ass.”

That made him laugh and Tweek smiled. “So, I’m surprised you’re here and not with Stan.”

That made the smile drop almost instantly. “Oh, uh, we actually broke up.”

He frowned. “You broke up?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. We were fuck buddies calling it a relationship if anything. I don’t know, he was too hung up on his ex.”

“You’re not even upset about it?”

He shrugged. “It was just Stan, no big deal.”

He was handling this too well, even for him. Even with Jordan he seemed to get over it pretty quickly after initial sadness.

It made him wonder how he’d handled their breakup. They never talked about it, but they didn’t talk for a week. Mostly to let things settle. Tweek remembered crying in his room for a week straight. Craig seemed hurt by it and was just putting on a brave face but Tweek wasn’t sure if he’d grieved their relationship the same way.

Now was definitely not the time to ask about it.

“Well, are you at least friends now or something?”

“I’d say so. I don’t know if I really want to be his friend but after all that, might as well try, right?”

He nodded. “Right.” He shuffled in his seat. “Well, uh, Clyde got me a Switch for Christmas and I have Lets Go Eevee, which lets you have two players. Wanna play?”

He seemed to light up at the request. “Fuck yeah.”

They played for maybe two hours. Tweek wasn’t too far in, all he’d done was beat the first gym. But with Craig’s help he got decently far into it.

In the middle of a battle, his phone rang. He frowned, looking down at it. He barely ever got calls nowadays, most people just texted. He picked up his phone and saw a number he didn’t recognised. He frowned as he answered it. “Hello?”

“Hi, sweetie,” came him mom’s voice. “Your dad and I need you to come down to the police station.”


	37. Chapter 37

If anything was going to get Tweek into Craig’s death trap, it was a quicker ride home after the call from his mom.

Everything he’d learnt about controlling his anxiety was long gone, he was shaking in the passenger seat, unable to keep his clammy hands still. Craig did try to give him assuring words, but even he seemed realise it was no use. So he stayed silent until they got back to South Park.

When the police station into view, that was all he could focus on. Craig said something but it was just white noise, he could only concentrate on the police station coming closer and closer.

When Craig slowed down to turn into the parking lot, Tweek didn’t even wait for the car to be in a complete stop before opening the door and slamming it behind him before running inside.

He pushed the doors open and frantically went to the front counter. The person behind the reception was reading a magazine, and looked over it with an annoyed look when he saw him

“Hey, uh, I got a call from my mom Helen Tweak–”

“I’ll buzz you in,” the guy replied in a flat tone. When Tweek heard the irritating buzz sound he pushed the doors open immediately. He scanned the room, seeing if his parents were anywhere.

His mom didn’t tell him why they were at the police station. He wasn’t sure if something had happened to them or if they themselves had been arrested. He was pretty sure his mom had used the police phone to call him, she probably wouldn’t have used it if they hadn’t been arrested. But why could they have possibly been arrested? What could’ve they had possibly done?

“You are Helen and Richard Tweak’s son I assume?”

He almost jumped out of his skin when he turned to see a police officer. His badge read “Sgt. Yates”.

He swallowed and nodded. Behind him, he heard the sound of buzzing and the door opening. He turned to see Craig behind him.

“Dude, don’t run of my car like that,” he said frowning at him.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. He turned back to Sargent Yates. “Where are my parents? What’s happening?”

“Come sit,” he said and he lead him to a table. He and Craig followed him and sat together across from Sargent Yates.

He’d been shaking since he’d walked in, and Craig definitely noticed. He squeezed his shoulder and Tweek took his hand to hold onto while Sargents Yates settled in front of them.

“So we’ve been doing an investigation on a Methamphetamine lab in town,” he said. “We’ve been tracking buyers as well. We’ve found your parents have been buying Methamphetamine and putting it into the coffee beans.”

Tweek’s jaw dropped. Even next to him, Craig stiffened in shock. His hand tightened in his own but that didn’t calm him down at all.

Meth. There was _meth_ in his parents’ coffee. Could that mean… could they have really spent god knows how many years feeding it to him?

He swallowed. “So, what’s happening? Are they going to prison?”

“There still needs to be a trial. But we’ve already gotten a confession from both of them.”

He wasn’t sure if he visibly shaking, but he felt Craig squeeze his hand.

“Am I able to see them?”

He nodded. “Yes, but they are both staying in the jail until the courts reach a verdict. If the court finds them guilty, they will likely be transferred to a prison.”

He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. “Okay.” His voice went high, the kind of high his voice hadn’t been since before puberty.

Craig stayed back as Tweek was taken down to the holding cells. The officer taking him didn’t bother making conversation, and Tweek wasn’t in a talking mood anyway.

His parents might’ve been giving him meth from before he could remember. Actual meth. It was already questionable that they were giving him coffee pretty much out of a sippy cup.

His parents were held in a cell together. He saw his mom sat down while his dad paced back and fourth.

The police officer had to stay in the room, watching him from afar as he stepped towards his parents.

“Mom? Dad?”

That stopped his dad’s pacing and made his mom shoot up from her slouched position. They stared at him, like they were waiting for some kind of affection. His mom grasped the cells bars. “Sweetheart, it’s so good to see you!” Her hand reached out to him, probably to hold it.

He stayed back, still staring at them. He felt no level of affection towards them, they never gave him a reason to love them.

He looked from his mom who was still trying to reach for him, and then to his dad who stared at him.

“Did you feed me meth?” That was all he could think to say. He needed to know, he really needed to know.

“Tweek, honey–” his mom began but he cut her off.

“Did you feed me meth?”

His parents looked at each other and the guilt that crossed his moms face was answer enough.

“Fuck you,” he said. It was hollow and empty, but he needed to say it. “Just, did you want to kill me or something?”

“Tweek, honey, please calm down,” his mom said but he didn’t care.

“You gave me _meth_! How old was I when you started? Thirteen? Eight? _Three_?”

When he didn’t get an answer, he decided he’d gotten close enough.

“Tweek, your mother and I will likely be locked up for a long time,” his dad cut in, seeming to have no sympathy for his pain. “We need you to run the coffee shop–”

“Fuck that,” he cut in. “No, I’m not running that place.”

“Tweek, you know it’s been in our family for a long time–”

“I don’t give a fuck!” he was yelling at this point, and shaking. He could tell the police officer was watching, as well as people in surrounding cells. “I shouldn’t be expected to keep afloat something I hate. Nor should I subject my future husband and kids to it either just because _you_ want me to run it. I’d rather see that place burn down then ever run it!”

He was shaking, and his voice was raw from screaming. But he didn’t care. He needed to get all his feelings and emotions out. He’d held so much of how he felt in. How they forced him to work for basically nothing. How they made him taste test so much coffee (that’s always been laced with _meth_ ). How they stopped him from going to college even though he wanted to. How they made it difficult for him to move out because they gave him a salary below the minimum wage. How they used his relationship with Craig for their own gain. How they did their best to control his life while pretending they weren’t.

He didn’t want anything to do with them.

He turned to the police officer, who looked pretty stunned by his outburst. “I’m ready to go.”

He slowly nodded and walked him out. Tweek followed and didn’t look back at his parents.

Craig was standing in the waiting room, and without a word, Tweek stepped towards him and hugged him. He rested his chin on Craig’s shoulder as he drew him closer as he hugged him back.

He finally let out the sobs, which made Craig hold him tighter. He rubbed his back, mumbling words of comfort.

“You need me to do anything?” he asked, feeling his warm breath against his skin.

His sniffled. “Can you drive me to Tweek Bros.?”

* * *

Craig wasn’t sure what exactly Tweek wanted to at his parents’ coffee place, but he drove him there without question.

He’d hadn’t asked what happened with his parents, all he knew was that Tweek’s parents were definitely going to prison. How long was still in question but it appeared it’d be long enough that Tweek Bros. fell onto Tweek’s shoulders. Craig didn’t need to be told that that was a form of a nightmare for Tweek.

He knew for sure Tweek didn’t have him drive him there so he could open it up.

Tweek seemed to stare at the coffee shop for a moment before taking out a key and opening it up. Tweek always carried a set of keys that Craig didn’t even want to being to think about counting.

Craig had never seen it empty before. It looked weirdly smaller without people taking up space. It looked like a place that was meant to be opening soon, not whatever state the reality had left it in.

He watched Tweek, who seemed to have lost any nerve he’d had and was glued to the floor. He stepped closer to him and touched his shoulder.

“You okay?”

“It just hit me that I’m probably addicted to coffee because of the meth.”

He gaped at him, completely caught off guard. “What do you mean? I mean, just because it had meth in it, you didn’t know right? So, you’re probably not addicted to meth?” He didn’t actually know how addiction worked. School always portrayed it like you have one pot brownie and then you’re snorting cocaine. But surely Tweek couldn’t just be addicted to meth without even knowing it was there, right?

He turned to him. “No, not meth. _Coffee_. Like, I don’t know how this shit works. But I drink so much coffee and even though I hate my parents’ coffee, I still _drank_ it. It always did this thing to my brain when I was desperate for coffee. And now I know it’s fucking _meth_.” Tears were starting to stream down his face, and Craig had no idea what he could do. He was shaking, shaking like he did when they were kids and his anxiety was so bad he could barely function most of the time.

He touched his bicep, squeezing it, hoping it’d do something to calm him down. Tweek met his eye and his lip trembled, and he hugged him. Craig bit his lip and hugged him back, rubbing his back. That was his goto when it came to calming down Tweek. In his experience, it worked well.

Although maybe it wasn’t the best thing right now. He only seemed to cry more.

He could feel his weight dropping and he held onto him, and so he slowly settled them down to the floor.

He wasn’t sure how long they sat on the floor. Time was slow and fast at the same time. He just let Tweek cry, let him get out everything he needed to.

Craig ran his fingers through Tweek’s hair. He’d thrown away trying to calm him down, he needed comfort. Emotional support. Someone who won’t toss aside his emotions.

He felt Tweek slowly stop shaking and he took a deep breath. He pulled away and wiped his tears away.

“I’m gonna sell this place,” he said. “I might as well get something out of all of this.”

He nodded. “Do you know how long your parents will be in prison?”

He shook his head. “According to my dad it’ll be a long time. I don’t even care, it’ll be long enough that both this place and their house will be empty for years. I’m gonna sell both and put that money towards baking school.”

He grinned at him. “That definitely sounds like a great idea.” He glanced at the cash register. “Does that mean that money is yours?”

He followed his gaze and stood up. “Yeah.” He walked around the counter. And went behind the cash register He punched in the passcode and the draw opened. He seemed to stare at the money for a few moments before taking out his wallet and began to angrily stuff the money into it.

“Not even gonna count?”

“I don’t care.” He slammed the draw closed and stared at it angrily. He punched down on it, and Craig flinched at the sound.

Then a thought came to him. “Hey, I’ve got an idea.”

* * *

Craig put the cash register in the trunk of his car and they drove to his house. He told Tweek to wait outside before running inside. A few moments later he came back outside with two baseball bats.

Tweek stared at him for a moment and then smiled.

“I figured we can’t commit arson,” Craig said handing him a bat. “But this is the next best thing.”

“This is why you’re my best friend.”

Craig set the cash register on the sidewalk and Tweek took the first swing. He hit it as hard as he could, focussing all of his anger in it. He let out a yelp of anger when the bat his it was a loud clang.

He grinned at Craig who grinned back at him. “Your turn.”

He nodded and stepped forward. He took his own swing at it, and it was met with a satisfying loud clang.

They spent god knew how long beating it until it was in pieces. They were so loud that Tricia and his mom came outside to see what the hell they were doing. Tricia thought it was hilarious and asked if she could have a swing too.

When it was nothing but broken pieces on the ground, Tweek stared down at their work. He may have not destroyed the actual café but this was close enough and he felt at least a little better.

He turned to Craig. “How about some meth-less coffee? Your mom has one of those capsule machines, right?”

He smiled at him and nodded. “I’ll make it right away.”


	38. Chapter 38

Tweek’s parents trial came pretty fast, virtue of being from a small town he figured.

His parents had to pass ownership of the coffee place and the house onto him, and the first thing he did was put them up for sale.

He had to come back as a witness, and mentioning how his parents gave him the meth laced coffee as a child made the case far worse for them. He didn’t feel any sympathy though.

The verdict was they’d been in prison for sixteen years. Tweek was able to leave with dry eyes.

There was an offer to say bye to his parents, and he debated outright leaving. He wasn’t sure he even wanted any sort of closure from them.

So he shook his head and got a look of understanding.

Since there was no one else to drive it, Tweek kind of got his dad’s car by default. He didn’t sell that. Clyde didn’t have his own car, apparently he was saving for a brand-new one and it was their only way to really get around.

The biggest downside was that he had to take days off from work. He didn’t tell April why, just that he had a family emergency. He didn’t want any pity from people he barely knew. He just wanted to leave his parents behind him. What would happen when they got out, he wasn’t sure. That was a long way from now. Who knew where his life would even be by then.

He knew basically nothing about selling property but they did get decent help from the realiter. Aside from her, he was going through this mostly alone. His friends were back at college and Clyde was too busy with class and streaming to help him out.

He didn’t want pity, he didn’t want people helping him out of feeling like it was some obligation either. There was nothing they could do to make the situation better. He’d been fed meth for most o his life by his own parents. He didn’t care who had the bigger role or if it was equal or even if either of them felt any remore or guilt or anything.

The knowledge now made him paranoid he’d turn to meth. Not that he knew how to get meth which was the real saving grace. All the remaining coffee beans were taken as evidence. Craig got the idea to flush the coffee beans and was pretty disappointed to hear they were all taken away. Even though Tweek didn’t really want to do something like that, he appreciated he was trying to help. He was doing the best out of everyone. Craig didn’t give him pity, he just tried to make him feel better. He didn’t give him fake words in attempt to comfort him, he instead got baseball bats to destroy the cashregister. That’s what he needed, someone who would let him cry and would help him get his feelings out through violence.

He also just didn’t want to deal with the kind of looks he’d get if he told people his parents not only fed an entire town meth, but that he was one of them. He’d rather just keep that to himself. Any future boyfriends would probably just be told they’d died. He wouldn’t bring up prison unless he absolutely had to. He didn’t get a choice in people in the town knowing, and that made him want to never go back again. At least now he could choose who knew, not experience the side eyes and whispering that plagued him when he was there for the trial.

His life was his own the most it could be now. His parents were finally in a place where they couldn’t try to teach him like a puppet. He could and would put money to baking school, it only took a year. Hell, he could open up his own damn bakery when it was all said and done. No shitty coffee shop he would later have to suffer into retirement. If he put aside the money from Tweek Bros. and his parents house, he could buy a place if he wanted to.

Maybe for now he should just shoot low for becoming a baker at where he was working. But at least the opportunity was there now.

It finally like he had full control of his life, that was all he’d needed.

* * *

Craig had been doing his best all semester to look at the future. He was almost done with his third year, which meant he was close to his last year and his degree. He’d have a shitty transcript but he’d have the degree, which mattered more to him.

He’d been keeping up with work as best he could, but sometimes he chose sleep over work unlike his peers. Sometimes he procrastinated a little too much. Sometimes he couldn’t grasp the mental effort to work for A’s.

Most of the time, his brain couldn’t grasp the academic side of everything. He’d tried, he’d gone to every lecture and started assignments a week early. He tried and tried and _tried_ but it only seemed to get harder.

It was nearing the end of the semester and getting three D’s and two F’s on his exams sent him over the edge.

It started off with him staring at his laptop. His two F’s equalled two failed classes. He’d only gotten F’s for those classes. Yeah there were make up assignments he could do but those were his major’s classes, and it was like being stared in the face that he couldn’t do this.

He stood up from his chair and paced around his dorm.

How was this so hard? Why wasn’t it getting easier?

What was he even _doing_ here? Why did he think astronomy was a good idea to be his major all because of a childhood fascination? It wasn’t like he’d become an astronaut. That was so damn unlikely, especially knowing all the physical and mental endurance it required.

He had no plans of getting a masters in it either, he couldn’t even handle undergrad. What kind of job was he meant to get with those pitiful grades?

He stomped his foot on the floor before picking up his pillow and screaming into it. He screamed into it until his voice turned raw and the screams became sobs. He buckled under his knees and hugged his pillow to his chest as he sobbed into it.

He wasn’t a crier. Not much affected him enough to lead him to tears. He was used to keeping an apathetic and passive demeanour. But he’d never been hit with stress and nerves like now.

He couldn’t do it anymore. He didn’t want to do it anymore. There was no point, all he was doing was causing himself more stress than was necessary.

He was fucking done with college. For good.


	39. Chapter 39

Craig was never more thankful for having understanding parents than when he told them he’d decided to drop out of college. He knew they weren’t pleased with the news but they also weren’t going to force him to stay in school if it was sending him into such a bad mental state.

Of course, there was still the factor of getting his own job and what exactly he was going to do with his life. He hadn’t had the chance to put thought into exactly what he wanted to do other than get out of South Park. He had a car but no money and nowhere to really go at all.

When he got back to South Park, he’d texted the group chat about his problems and Clyde, being Clyde and all, suggested they got to a bar now that they’re all 21. Craig made it clear he definitely _did not_ want to get to a straight bar. The only way that night would go was Clyde picking up girls because he was him. Besides, he didn’t want to sort out his problems through drinking.

After a few weeks being back, he did go to Denver to visit Tweek and Clyde. Jimmy and Token came too, since they hadn’t had a chance to see the two either. They had been to their apartment but not all at the same time. Craig hoped they’d had a chance to furnish the place a little more. Token and Jimmy said the last time they were there it was mostly unfurnished. He remembered how Tweek had told him it was getting somewhere but it was obvious two kids in their early 20’s lived there, probably because of the cluster of Ikea furniture that it was definitely cluttered with.

Tweek was the one to answer the door, and with a grin let everyone in.

The apartment actually did look like a normal apartment. There was a living room, with a couch and a TV on a console, and even a coffee table. There were stools on the kitchen island too. The small space made it flow kind of well.

“Hey,” Tweek said smiling at them. “Clyde’s streaming in his room.”

“What’s he playing?” Token asked with a raised brow.

“Fortnite, I think?”

“N-nn-ice, let’s g-g-go harass him.” Jimmy grinned as he and Token practically raced into Clyde’s room.

Craig laughed and turned to Tweek. “Does he actually earn enough for rent?”

He nodded. “Apparently. I’ve never asked how much he earns. At least I’ve got a Switch out of it.”

He laughed. “True,” he said. “What’re you playing?” he asked, noticing his Switch on the kitchen counter.

“Stardew Valley. Attempting to get a husband,” he said picking it up and pushing up onto the stool. Craig sat next to him and looked over his shoulder as Tweek worked on the virtual farm.

“Closer to it than real life then?” he joked.

He nodded. “Pretty much. My dating life is so dry. I’ve got more important things to worry about anyway.”

He really did actually. Craig had been keeping up with him to make sure his emotional well-being was okay with his parents’ situation. He did the best he could do from Florida and hiding his own stress of college.

He hadn’t talked about his stress with anyone. He’d already made the decision he wasn’t going back for senior year. He had his goodbyes with Alex, Nathan, and Seth. They were all moving out of Florida after their graduations anyway, so he wasn’t going to see them again next semester anyway. They’d kept in contact through Twitter and liking each other’s pictures on Instagram.

He’d built up his stress and anxieties so much over the years that he didn’t really know how to talk about it.

He silently watched Tweek play his game, probably like what Token and Jimmy were doing with Clyde. Except this was probably the more relaxing version of it.

After maybe half an hour, Tweek turned to him. “So, I really wanted to ask. Are you doing okay after college and everything?”

He blinked at him. He should’ve expected Tweek would ask something about it. He’d been there for him to much that of course he’d return it when he needed it.

He shrugged at him. “I mean, as okay as I can be? I probably would’ve been jobless if I’d graduated, but I’m just jobless without a degree.”

“Well, do you have any plans or anything? Other things you might want to try doing?”

He was quiet for a moment. He’d been putting a lot of thought into it and he only had one real conclusion.

“Become a car mechanic?” he said. “Like, I already know some shit and I can do a course and all to become a proper one. But that’s it.”

He nodded. “I mean, you were able to make your car good enough for the road.”

That and he’d helped out Stan with his car with more than the ignition switch issue. That car was almost a bigger piece of shit than his own. And his dad made him do most of the work when fixing up his Mazda in case he broke down and only had himself and a tool box. In theory, becoming a car mechanic was something he could do. There was one nagging thought though.

“Yeah but mechanics tend to be the worst kind of straight dudes. Who knows what’d happen if my gay ass with painted nails came in.”

“Since when did you care what people thought?”

He had a point, but his own gayness was always a weird weak spot for him. He hated letting those kind of things get to him, it went against what he stood for. But he was only human and he let those kinds of things get to him sometimes.

He shrugged. “Whatever. I might think about it. It’d be a good job. Better than what I wasted three years on.” His tone was kind of defeated. He really had wasted so many years on college. The only virtues was making friends with Seth, Alex, and Nathan. Mostly Nathan. They’d become pretty close over time and hopefully they’d see each other again sometime soon. Alex and Seth seemed close enough to marriage, and he felt he’d make the guest list. Hopefully at least. Even the chance made him feel a little better about the time he’d spent there. They had cared enough to check how he was when he got home.

Tweek bit his lip. “I know what’ll cheer you up, the planetarium.”

“Really dude?”

“Yep, let’s learn for fun. Not for a grade.”

He smiled at him. He was well and truely his best friend.

“Okay, let’s go.”

* * *

The planetarium was what Craig attributed to his love of space. They went on a field trip to it in third grade and while most of his classmates were falling asleep in their seats, he was memorised by space and everything there was to know about it, and all the mysteries of it too.

Even though he knew a lot of the stuff the planetarium taught, it was still relaxing to go and watch. Even better, Tweek listened to him as he expanded on the base level information brought up. He probably tuned out a little in but he also wasn’t telling him to shut up so he took that happily.

“So, feel better?” Tweek asked as they stepped out into the lobby.

He smiled. He didn’t, but it was a nice distraction. “Sure,” he said with a shrug.

They ended up stopping by a kiosk in the lobby to get some coffee. Tweek could really only go a couple hours without a cup. There was that coffee addiction. He really should talk to him a little more about that.

As they waited for their coffees, Craig noticed a sign on the wall. It was a hell wanted sign asking for night security.

He stared at it for a moment and took out his phone to snap a picture if it. A graveyard shift would suck but it was something.

Tweek followed his gaze to the help wanted sign before turning back to him. “Is a job in Denver even a good idea?”

“I have a car,” he shrugged.

“I know but it’ll be a nightmare going here and back home.”

He waved him off. “Don’t worry, I’ll save up enough eventually to move up here.” His only real goal was to get out of South Park.

“Well, if you need anywhere in Denver to stay, you could always stay with me and Clyde.”

Actually, scratch that. He wanted to get out of South Park and not do it by being a burden on anyone.

“No dude,” he shook his head. “I can handle myself.”

“You sure? You can even just stay there while finding a job in Denver. You’re more in luck up here than back home. Unless you want to get some crappy job there that keeps you there even longer.”

“I told you, it’s fine. I’ll find something in Denver then do the whole shitty one room apartment thing.” That was kind of his plan from the beginning. He didn’t know necessarily what kind of job he’d get if he had graduated, it was like a hypothetical situation where he’d have some kind of job and he lived out of his home town. Now that it’s placed in front of him it seemed way harder than he’d ever thought it’d be. And with literally zero qualifications it felt like things would be even harder. That was the one thing that pushed him to doing the mechanic course.

“Fine,” Tweek said frowning at him. “But you can always ask.”

He nodded and the barista called out their orders. Once they took them and were back in Craig’s car, staying in the parking lot so he could have his coffee first, he asked Tweek one thing they hadn’t talked about.

He watched Tweek as he gulped down his coffee, and he could already see how it hit some sort of satisfaction.

“Serious question, dude,” Craig said. “After all that bullshit, as well as you anxiety, have you considered going to therapy?”

Tweek took the cup away from his lip and turned to him. “I’m putting all my money into baking school. I don’t know if I can really afford it.”

“Okay, but if you hypothetically did have the money, would you go? Do you feel like you need it?”

He shuffled in his spot. “I don’t know. I’m used to feeling fucked up and sorting out my problem on my own. What could therapy do?”

“Well for one thing,” he said as Tweek downed down the rest of his coffee. “It could help with that.”

He wiped his mouth, getting off the few drops that had spilled from his lips. “At least it’s not actual meth, right?”

“I don’t think an ‘at least’ really matters here.”

He sighed, slumping his shoulders. “I’m already broken, alright? There’s nothing to fix, this is how I’ve always been.”

Craig swallowed as he watched him turn his gaze to his lap, like he was ready to sink into his seat.

He leaned over the hand break and put his hand on Tweek’s shoulder. “You’re not broken Tweek,” he said. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to but even without it, you are not broken.”

Tweek met his eye and Craig could see his eyes were tearing up. Wordlessly, he rested his head against his chest. Craig felt his heart begin to race, and he rubbed his back.

He suddenly felt really bad for bringing up the therapy, he shouldn’t have suggested it. Not when it was still so fresh for him. Craig couldn’t even imagine what it was like for him to process what his parents had been doing to him. He knew he hated his parents and that they weren’t the loving sort. Craig had listened to him complain about them for years. He could never relate to his words, Craig had loving parents who loved him unconditionally. Even in the divorce, they still loved him and Tricia.

He’d never understand what it was like to have parents who underpaid you, who dismissed how you felt, who found ways to use him for their own game. And now, ones who’d had no problem feeding him meth.

He’d gotten mostly good at not trying to solve Tweek’s problems with logic. Therapy fell into that. And maybe one day he would go. But Tweek probably needed more time to processes everything before he could talk about it with a professional. He hoped he went eventually at least.

He’d thought Tweek needed therapy for years but he hated pressuring him. He hated even more than he had spent so much of the time so far away, that he couldn’t be there for him. He wished he’d been there for the trail when he was made to be a witness and comfort him during the impending breakdown. The fact he had to go through it all alone made him so sick. He remembered spending his entire lecture texting Tweek words of comfort when he got a text telling him he was close to having an anxiety attack from the trial. Something in him made him feel like he should’ve been there with it, to hold him in court. Not only be there through text.

It was too late to go back now, and the best he could offer was being there for him now.

He reminded himself of that as he hugged him.


	40. Chapter 40

April was ecstatic to hear Tweek was starting a baking course. She offered to give him extra tasks around the place so he could have more to do by the time he had his qualification.

The one stick out difference for the year was the fact that Craig’s dropping out meant they would be hanging out in person more again. He didn’t take his – or even Clyde’s – offer to stay at their’s. He ended up getting that security job at the planetarium and made it just in time to register for the mechanic course at the community college.

He already seemed to be feeling much better about dropping out. He usually came by after classes to hang out anyway. They usually watched movies and TV shows and whatnot and sometimes they got dinner together. It was simple but he loved spending time with him so even if simple meant gorging out on Chinese food while they marathoned movies, then he loved it. It was a nice way to relax in between trying to work full time and study full time. He usually ended up falling asleep on his couch and waking up with a blanket thrown over him, usually by Clyde he’d assume but Craig probably did it himself when he came over.

His job hadn’t changed that much baking wise. All April was letting him do was frost the cupcakes once they’d cooled down. He was still mainly a barista. Being a barista meant he was still stuck dealing with customers. The only end goal he had in his baking career was never dealing with customers again.

There was one maybe small upside to working with customers and that was one kind of cute guy about his age who came in every morning since around the semester started. He hadn’t seen him around before but he came in the mornings Tweek worked. His hours had changed since he’d started his course but he still worked most mornings.

April usually urged him to serve him and at first, he wasn’t sure why. Initially he thought she was just too busy with something else to serve him but soon enough, he found out why.

“That customer is really into you.”

She said it while they were frosting the cupcakes the bakers had made the morning.

He hadn’t expected that from her. He had no idea what even prompted it, regular customers weren’t out of the norm. Yet, her tone made it seem like she was pretty convinced

“What makes you think that?” he asked, finishing off the cupcake he was frosting.

“The way he looks at you, and the fact he comes here whenever you’re working.”

“He probably just works close,” he dismissed. He was still pretty terrible at telling if a guy was queer or not, recognising flirting was a whole other kind of difficulty. He always just dismissed anything that could be, he assumed said guy was straight.

His dating life had still been non-existent. Denver’s single out queer guy population wasn’t the biggest or the most obvious in the world. He was still adverse to dating apps and no guy had presented himself like Logan had. There were some guys in his classes who were likely queer but none he was into.

The guy who always came into Sweet Dream Delights was actually cute, and if he was queer then he wouldn’t be a bad option for a date. But he had no idea how the hell he was even meant to find out in the first place. Maybe he could look for signs the next time he came in.

He didn’t work too late and he’d finished off his homework last night, which gave him pinnacle Stardew Valley time. He’d been trying to get Clyde into it but he needed more than simple games like that. He’d try to get him into The Last of Us if he had a PS4. It was like with Spider-Man and Craig practically wouldn’t shut up about how it made the PS4 better.

“I’m home,” he called while he closed the door behind him. He was usually streaming at this point so he knew it was no use with his headphones on.

He checked his phone and saw there was a message from Craig.

Craig: _hey were you interested in coming with me to a gay bar?_

Surprisingly, even though they can legally drink and go into any bar now, they haven’t gone to a gay bar together since they went to Vegas. He had been wanting to go to one again but he didn’t want to go alone.

He smiled and replied to him with a ‘yes’. He was ready to just spend the night with his best friend.

* * *

“Do you remember that time we got into that one gay bar when we were eighteen? And then we were caught with fake ID’s?” Was Craig’s first words when they entered the bar. Tweek smiled and nodded with a small laugh.

“I do.” It was some random bar in Denver. They ended up getting caught and even though they weren’t minors, the bouncer seemed ready to call their parents. Which would’ve gotten both of them grounded for god knew how long. They were only saved because Tweek started crying hysterically and claiming their parents didn’t know they were gay and they both had incredibly homophobic parents. Que that sympathetic look and being sent home with no consequences. Craig was so impressed with him he bought the both of them smoothies to celebrate his ruse.

“Well, ready for your first legal drink in a gay bar?” Craig asked as they walked towards the counter.

Tweek nodded. “Yep.”

They went to the bar and got a beer each and found a table. Craig still hated dancing so he went straight to a table to sit at. Tweek followed, not wanting to be left alone. He was pretty sure Craig just wanted to hang out than attempt to pick up guys.

That particular bar wasn’t too busy. It was another random one in Denver. It seemed to be the more relaxed kind, compared to the one in Vegas at least. The dance floor didn’t look easy to get lost in and people definitely weren’t shy about PDA.

“Do you ever wonder how people can just stick their tongue down someone’s throat in public and not feel awkward?” Tweek asked, nodding to two girls kissing at a nearby table.

He nodded with a laugh. “I know, when me and Stan were dating he was really into PDA. I think that just of came with getting to be out and all. He caught on I didn’t like it at least.” He gave a small shrug and took a sip of his beer.

“It makes me wonder how people can handle weddings, like everyones watching you as you give basically the biggest PDA ever.”

Craig laughed. “My theory is that people get to the point that they’re so in love that they don’t care.” He bit his lip and his eyes rested on his glass. “I want to be in love like that some day.”

Tweek swallowed his drink and nodded. “Yeah, I get the feeling.” It sucked that he’d never had the proper chance to really fall in love with Logan, and sure, in the end he was a dickhead but he longed for finding someone who did love him with everything in him and he felt the same way back. It seemed almost like a myth when you haven’t felt it yourself.

Craig still wasn’t looking at him, so his eyes shifted to the dance floor. It wasn’t that well lit but he could still see faces clear enough. People were moving along to the pop song playing and they seemed to be having the time of their life

It took him a moment but he soon realised that in the crowd was the cute guy that always came to the bakery.

His mouth almost dropped when he saw him. He hadn’t put much thought into him, not even after April suggested he was into him. But there he was, at a gay bar, the indicator he needed to confirm that he was queer.

He did his best to piece their interactions in his mind. The small brush of fingers when he got his coffee was the one constant theme. Tweek always took it as an accident and never thought twice about it, but it happened every time and maybe it had been intentional the entire time. It felt a little possible now at least.

“What’re you staring at?” Craig asked, which made him realise he was staring for too long.

He looked back at Craig. “That guy over there comes to the bakery. My coworker seemed convinced he was into me.”

Craig turned and saw said guy. He was sitting alone at the bar with a drink in front of him. When he turned back to him he asked, “Well, are you into him?”

He gave a small shrug. “He’s cute, I guess.”

“Why not talk to him?”

Good question. Tweek still barely knew how to do that kind of stuff but he was ready to get emotionally invested in someone. He’d been doing better from after his parents arrest, though his coffee addiction was still pretty out of hand, and he was as emotionally stable as he could be. Without therapy at least. Craig was still pushing him to go but Tweek knew how expensive it could be, and most of his money was going to rent and his bakery course. Maybe when he was a little more financially stable. He’d probably needed to go since he was eight.

“Well,” he said, wrapping his hands around his beer bottle. “I guess I wanted to spend time with you?” It wasn’t until he’d said it aloud that he realised that it actually was why he didn’t want to go up and attempt to flirt, or at least try to confirm April’s suspicion. He kind of preferred just spending his time with Craig, like they always did. He knew Craig wasn’t going to try and hook up with anyone since he still seemed adverse to sleeping with strangers. Tweek couldn’t say where he stood on that, what he did know was that Craig was better than maybe sleeping with a stranger.

Tweek wasn’t even sure he was the casual kind of person either. It took months for even he and Logan to have sex. He wasn’t sure he’d want to sleep with a stranger and immediately leave and he had no idea what to expect from this guy.

“Hey,” Craig said crossing his arms over his chest but smiled as he did. “Don’t not get at least some dick on my account.”

He frowned and looked at him then back at the guy. Well, it was worth a shot to get his number at least.

“Fine.” He stood up, and took his beer with him as he walked to the bar. “I’m just gonna try and get his number, alright? Lets hope he doesn’t end up being a serial killer who knows where I work.”

He made his way towards the bar, a little slowly. There weren’t too many people sitting up at it, most favouring a table or the dance floor.

He sat on one of the stools, leaving one between him and the guy. From the corner of his eye he could see the bartender watching a few steps away with a slightly amused look. His lack of ability to flirt must’ve been incredibly obvious.

He cleared his throat hesitantly, which thankfully got his attention. The guy turned to him and he smiled as recognition flashed in his eyes.

“Oh hey, I know you,” he said. “You work at Sweet Dreams Delights, right?”

Tweek nodded. “Yeah, I recognised you,” he said. Over his head he could see Craig do a very crude motion and definitely mouthing “suck his dick” towards him. As the guy looked away to take a drink of his beer Tweek mouthed back “fuck off”.

“I never got your name,” the guy said, turning back to him. “I’m Blake.”

“Tweek,” he replied.

He nodded. “I saw you sitting with someone, they gonna mind you’re gone?”

“Oh don’t worry about him,” he said. “He won’t miss me.”

A smile grew on his lips and he leaned against the counter. “Good to know.”

Tweek couldn’t stop himself from smiling back at him.


	41. Chapter 41

Craig knew deciding to do a car mechanics course meant having to deal with mostly straight guys, possibly the worst kind they had to offer, but he was still thrown off on how straight his classmates could be. It caught him off to the point he decided to conceal his nails – painted a berry colour this week – in his pockets or by closing his fists. He didn’t make himself someone to be noticed but he also knew straight guys were people he should tread lightly around until he could trust them. Clyde, Token, and Jimmy didn’t even blink an eye when they first noticed that he’d start paint his nails. When he was hanging out with Stan’s friends, Cartman took the chance to rip on him and Kyle just seemed surprised.

He’d made one friend with a girl named Jean. She was a lesbian and they kind of stayed together for that sake. She was more of a femme lesbian and it seemed that their classmates thought he was trying to get into her pants. He and Jean just laughed it off and made fun of them when they were far enough away.

There were a few other girls taking the course too, and they were nice as well. The girls were the only ones who knew he was gay which he figured made them see him as some sort of solace.

Their male classmates seemed to think that meant he was some sort of ladies man or whatever. He thought it was pretty funny but as long as it kept the girls safe from the creeps, he didn’t care what they thought. He was curious what would happen if they’d found out he was gay at that point.

“What do you even tell them when they ask you if you’ve slept with any of us?” Jean had asked him over lunch one time.

He’d shrugged and said. “I just flip them off.” It was easier than risking any sort of homophobia. As long as the girls knew he wasn’t interested in anything other than friendship he didn’t care. They seemed to understand his aversion to letting those guys know he was gay.

He wasn’t sure what he’d do when he’d started actually working and was stuck with coworkers rather than classmates for only a few months. He’d probably wait until he knew whether or not said guys were homophobic. Sometimes that went hand in hand with obnoxiously straight though, so unless they figured it out for themselves it could wait.

His security job had been pretty helpful. He worked during the day when he didn’t have classes, sometimes later into the night. It paid decently and he could probably get an apartment if he tried, but just in case he was waiting until he had either his mechanic job or if he had trouble finding one, full time at his security job.

He’d concluded that this was the right path for him. He no longer felt the intense pressure in class. Actually liking mechanics and knowing things about it in the first place helped. Working on cars as a job actually made him excited. Classes were made easier with having actually had experience in it. Stan still turned to him for help with his car – since somehow they’d actually maintained a genuine friendship – and his own shitty Mazda 2 still needed some help from time to time. He was definitely not an expert and needed to proper training before he could even get a job though. A piece of him kind of wished he’d realised it sooner so he wouldn’t be stuck with college debt already murdering his bank account.

He knew one thing for sure though: he didn’t miss college even a little.

* * *

“So you got a date with him?” April asked, leaning against the front counter. Tweek had detailed what had happened between him and Blake at the bar. She was already annoyingly proud of herself for having the right suspicions.

Tweek nodded. “Yeah, you were right. We talked for like an hour until my friend was getting a little tired. I got his number before I left.”

They actually ended up talking for maybe an hour and Tweek hadn’t realised how quick the time had gone by. He was fun and easy to talk to, and Tweek was looking forward to their date. They were just going to the movies together but it was going to be his first date in a while. He wasn’t sure how he was potentially going to explain his family situation if it came up at all. He didn’t want to scare this guy off so soon. Craig had told him if he’d waited to tell him about it and he got mad he had, then he wasn’t a guy who was worth it. He saw his point but he also knew most guys would run when told the situation he was in with his parents and that Craig was just looking out for him. He appreciated that but he still wasn’t going to be telling Blake about his parents any time soon or ever.

The bakery that day wasn’t too busy and there were still cupcakes left. Their boss Tristan allowed them to take the leftovers home since it didn’t waste food and he wanted everything to be fresh. As Tweek started to pack his half in a paper bag, April said, “You can take them all today. I have way too much cupcakes at home.”

He turned to her. “You sure?” There were only three left but he knew she loved the cupcakes.

She nodded. “Save some for your date or something.”

He stared at her then looked back at the cupcakes. He added the last three into a separate bag.

* * *

“God, I’m so sick of theory classes,” Jean muttered, stretching her arms over her head as they walked off campus towards the parking lot.

“It’s not that bad,” Craig shrugged, his backpack slung over one shoulder.

“Yeah because you’re so damn good at this.”

He smiled to himself. “Still can’t do math.”

She laughed and they both seemed to leave the obvious joke “because you’re gay” unspoken since a couple of their classmates were ahead of them. It was a weird shift after being out so naturally for twelve years. He hadn’t really ever had to double check his own gayness around other people before. Anywhere else he’d probably make the math joke.

“Craig, hey!” A voice called and he followed it and he grinned when he saw Tweek jogging up to him with a paper bag in hand.

“Hey, what’re you doing here?” he asked, stepping forward to him.

He held up the bag. “We had spare cupcakes and I know you have work tonight. Figured you’d want some.”

He grinned. “Did you know you are my favourite person?” he said as he took the bag.

He nodded, his face lighting up from his smile. “Yeah I know.”

In the corner of his eye, he saw the same two classmates from before look at them. It had only just occurred to him that that wasn’t the most straight guy exchange, even without the romantic aspect straight guys were so weirdly adverse to being nice to their friends the way he and Tweek were.

Jean stepped forward from behind him. “Ooh, did you say cupcakes?”

He clutched the bag to his chest. “Mine,” he laughed. “Go buy some for yourself. And I’ve got a long shift tonight. Starting soon actually so I need to go.”

He nodded. “Yeah, that’s why I ran here after we closed up. I’ve got some Detroit: Become Human to play.”

He grinned. “Sweet, you’re finally playing it!” He’d been trying to convince him to play it for ages but Tweek usually fell back onto those simple simulation games he loved so much.

He nodded, a grin on his face. “Yeah, it’s fucking awesome.”

“Let me guess, you’re PS4 boys?”

He’d only just realised their classmates were still there. They had only gotten a few steps away but he was kind of annoyed they’d stayed to eavesdrop. Craig knew their faces but couldn’t for the life of him remember their names.

Their tones were pretty obvious, they had the air of judgment. The kind Xbox players had.

Tweek seemed to pick up on it too. “Yeah, so? Maybe we want other first party games than Halo, and… uh… what else does Xbox have other than Halo?” He turned to Craig and his face displayed a genuine question which only made Craig laugh.

“Whatever,” rolled his friend. “Xbox is still better.”

Jean let out a really loud groan. “Are people still having that dumbass argument?” she asked. “Why not just get the system with more first party games you like and shut the hell up?”

Reasonable, really. And it made sense if you didn’t care about playing with friends online. Although, he would still stand by PS4’s being better.

“Exactly,” he agreed. “Which includes Spider-Man so it’s an automatic win.”

Tweek smiled. “Well, either way, I’m heading home,” he turned to Craig. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He nodded and smiled. “See ya.”

That seemed to prompt their classmates to head off too.

Jean turned towards him and leaned towards him slightly with a smile. “Was that your boyfriend?”

He turned to her and shook his head. “No, old friend. He is gay too though.”

“Really?” she asked and looked where he’d previously stood, her smile disappearing. “You guys acted couple-ish. And I’m pretty sure being PS4 fans makes you soulmates. That’s the impression I get at least, my girlfriend loves hers.”

He laughed. “My ex was also a PS4 fan. His best friend wasn’t though and it created this whole ass divide.” Stan was still hardcore PS4 for sure, and Kyle seemed less adverse but still favoured his Xbox. Stan seemed less upset about it but also cheered up when they were able to play Fortnite together. He tried to focus on that rather than how Jean thought he and Tweek acted like a couple.

“Anyway,” he said, gripping the bag Tweek had given him. “I’ve gotta get to work.”


	42. Chapter 42

Tweek’s date with Blake ended up going good. Not fall into his bed good but good enough to have a second date.

They date was just basic stuff in getting to know each other better. It had turned out that Blake came into the bakery to see him, he wasn’t sure if he was queer so he tried to be subtle with his flirting. That had caused Tweek to really look back at their interactions and he immediately felt like smacking himself for not catching on sooner.

Clyde seemed pretty happy he was dating someone. Tweek had been spending his time either working or in class, and when he wasn’t he was in his room or hanging out with Craig. He was happy with himself for actually dating. It did help get his mind off of his parents, which was really always at the back of his mind. He still had no plans of telling him about his parents.

The topic of parents hadn’t come up at least. He was still debating between saying that his parents moved to Canada or that they died horribly in a car accident.

Blake was in his senior year of college. The only reason he’d started showing up at Sweet Dreams Delights was because he’d transferred. He was also really busy because of it which ate up a lot of his time.

He hadn’t met Clyde and Craig yet but Tweek hoped to get around to that soon, as well as the rest of the guys. Jimmy and Token’s distance meant they wouldn’t meet him for months, but he should eventually be able to get Blake, Craig, and Clyde in one room together. Conflicting schedules aside, it should be able to happen eventually.

Craig had mentioned wanting to meet him and Tweek did want that whole thing where his boyfriend and his friends were friends. After Logan and Tweek always having to second guess himself around him, he wanted a relationship where his friendship with Craig didn’t feel like some huge issue. Blake had even made an off hand comment about having his own friends he might try to set Craig up with, which he knew he would love. Craig was still as hopeless at dating than himself.

They still hung out when they could. That was never going to change. Hopefully soon enough their takeout and movie nights would be spent with Blake’s addition.

“So,” Craig said as he set his feet on the coffee table in his and Clyde’s apartment. “Why couldn’t Blake make it?”

They’d ordered pizza and were ready to watch Little Miss Sunshine. Tweek had a soft spot for it and had been trying to convince Craig to watch it. He’d found the movie through Logan, whose artsy sort of taste had extended to movies. Indie movies at least.

“He’s on the debate team at his college,” he said taking a slice of pizza on his plate. “They need to prepare for it and all.”

He snorted. “You didn’t tell me you were dating a smart guy,” he teased as he poked his hip.

He rolled his eyes. “Well, either way, he doesn’t have much free time. When he’s not doing the whole debating shit, he’s studying.”

“Clearly he studies more than I ever did.”

“Yeah, and he seems to _like_ it too.”

They shared a smile and played the movie. Tweek curled up on the couch and comfortably watched the TV.

Around halfway through, the front door opened and they turned to see Clyde walking in with a girl. He held back a sigh as they both almost tripped over their feet as they ran to Clyde’s room.

“Don’t be too loud!” he called.

“Use a condom!” Craig added, an amused grin on his face.

When they both turned back to facing forward, Craig looked at him. “Does that happen often?”

He shook his head. “Not really actually. It’s not like a few years ago when he brought a girl every weekend.”

“Was it really _every_ weekend?”

“Would you be surprised?”

“Good point.”

They both laughed and turned back to the TV to watch the movie silently.

* * *

Craig knew Tweek really wanted him to meet his boyfriend. From what Craig could tell, he seemed to really like him. The fact they were all too busy to all meet up made it too hard. But things were slowing down now that the first semester was over. Blake was from Denver so it should be easier to meet up when he and Tweek had their days off.

When Token and Jimmy came home, that added two more people who wanted to meet him. Even without the aspect of Blake, Craig wanted them all to hang out like old times. A version of guy’s night really.

And that’s what they were doing. They were all going to Token’s house to watch a movie. Except Tweek’s boyfriend would be there too. Which Craig had to take as something fair since he’d brought his own boyfriend once too. Add that time Clyde brought girls and he realised guys’ night was only a shadow of what it once was.

When he got to Token’s, Jimmy was the only other one who’d arrived. Craig didn’t really expect Clyde and Tweek to be exactly punctual. Not when they were driving from Denver.

Craig helped himself to some popcorn. “What are we watching anyway?” With the rotation that used to have gone, he wasn’t at all sure how they’d choose a movie.

“Well, I was thinking we’d all suggest something then pull the name out of a hat,” Token said. “Or at least a random online generator.”

Yep, guys’ night was definitely not what it once was.

Tweek and Clyde showed up fifteen minutes after Craig had. Maybe not to his surprise, Clyde walked in with a girl (weirdly enough it was the same girl he’d dragged into his apartment when he and Tweek had been watching movies).

Tweek was holding hands with Blake and after quick introductions, they attempted to work out what movie to watch. The movie pick ended up being Clyde’s, and he wanted to watch Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. Hopefully his girlfriend liked crude humour.

Tweek and Blake had sat on the floor while Craig sat on the couch he usually sat on. Usually with Tweek so he was surprised when they went to the floor instead. It was pretty odd since he was pretty used to always sitting next to Tweek when they’d watch movies together but he didn’t bring it up. It wasn’t that big of a deal.

The bright side was that he was able to stretch his legs out on the couch and lay down.

The thing about guys’ night was that it only went for so long, and half the fun had always been making comments. The anomaly of Blake and the girl Clyde had brought – she’d be gone within the week so he hadn’t bothered to remember her name – seemed to render them into silence for the most part, aside from laughing every now and then.

When the movie was over, Clyde and Tweek noted they couldn’t stay longer like they usually would since they had to drive back to Denver. They said their goodbyes and Craig decided to leave too. He had work the next day and was getting pretty tired.

He didn’t have much of a verdict on Blake. Tweek seemed to like him which was what mattered most to him. As long as he treated him good.

He still wondered if Tweek would get around to telling him that his parents were in prison. Tweek seemed adamantly against it, and even though Craig knew he couldn’t force him, he didn’t want him to feel the huge weight of hiding something like that. He knew how Tweek could get if he hid things from people. He didn’t want him to be crushed under the stress of hiding that key piece of information from a boyfriend.

Hopefully Blake was the type of guy who was patient and didn’t fuck him over when things got too difficult.


	43. Chapter 43

“Craig?”

Craig looked from the computer monitor he used as a PS4 screen and narrowed his eyes at Tricia. She was poking her head into his room, her teeth sinking into her lip.

“What?” he asked, holding back a sigh.

She pushed herself off the doorframe and walked into his room.

One of the bad things about college was missing how much Tricia grew up. Her own prom was approaching and it felt like it was just yesterday she was in elementary school and annoyed him and his friends constantly. College meant he couldn’t be the older brother who could console her when the bad parts of their parents’ divorce was happening, or threaten any guys who treated her terribly.

“So, uh, I have a date to prom,” she said as she sat on the foot of his bed and looked at him at his desk.

He blinked. “Okay?” He wasn’t sure if he was surprised she had a date but he wasn’t naïve. Tricia was going to date someone eventually. “And?”

She blinked at him, and a nervous smile came onto her lips. “It’s Karen.”

He almost dropped his controller at those words. “Wait, _what_?”

Tricia giggled. “Yeah, uh, we’ve been going out since sophomore year.”

“So, you’re…” he prompted, deciding it was best to not just assume what label she went with.

“A lesbian,” she nodded. “Yeah.”

“Do mom and dad know?”

“Not yet. Karen told Kenny a while ago.”

“Why didn’t I know?” He crossed his arms over his chest. The brother who’d been out since he was ten should’ve been an obvious person to tell sooner than she had.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I hadn’t told anyone but my friends. Plus, you seemed to preoccupied with so many other things that I figured it could wait.”

“So… are you telling mom and dad?” He wasn’t sure how they’d react to both of their children being gay, but he was pretty confident his dad wouldn’t revert into homophobia. Again.

She nodded. “I will. I mean, I don’t want to not tell them and they’re cool with you anyway. I want to have the whole cliché prom photos experience and all that.”

“Well, that’s great. But there is one huge issue with this.”

She frowned. “What?”

“Who the hell is the alpha gay cousin now?”

Tricia laughed so hard, they had to make an excuse when their mom came in to check why they were being so loud.

* * *

Tweek had decided that Blake was a great boyfriend.

In almost all respects, he was perfect. He got along with his friends, put aside time to hang out with him, understood his anxiety wasn’t a cute quirk, and didn’t push topics that he clearly didn’t want to talk about.

The only real issue was his wariness whenever he hung out with Craig.

As far as he could tell, they got along. He’d never left them alone together though. It was mostly that he’d noticed Blake would usually tense up if he mentioned he and Craig had hung out.

It wasn’t like they did anything that anyone would – or at least should – consider cheating. They watched movies at Tweek’s place and played some multiplayer games when Craig was back in South Park. Nothing that should lead to jealousy. Or something that at least felt like jealousy.

Blake hadn’t said anything about it, maybe Tweek was just reading too much into it. He definitely didn’t want Blake to be jealous but he wasn’t going to change anything in his friendship with Craig to do that.

It at least wasn’t as tense as Logan could be. He didn’t stop himself from normal things like hugs just because Blake was there too.

He didn’t bring any of those things up to Craig. He’d just try to reason with him and tell him he should dump him. Craig seemed to have a low tolerance level when it came to him being mistreated.

They didn’t talk about relationships ever really. He hadn’t asked Craig if he was interested in anyone or had tried dating. Tweek hadn’t told much of his relationship to Craig other than his anxieties around telling him about his parents. It felt weird to think about talking about them with Craig of all people. Like that was not something they should ever talk about.

Maybe it was the exes thing but he was still his best friend. Outside of remarks on the attractiveness of celebrities, they just didn’t talk about guys all that much. He wasn’t even sure how he would bring it up. Small stuff at least.

Straddling Blake’s leg was one thing that he didn’t need to know though.

Blake was smiling up at him from the position, rubbing his thumb against his skin. The many months they’d been dating were filled with those small, intimate things. Those were the kind of things he always loved in relationships. All three of them at least. It was almost as good as sex.

Tweek found that this relationship was easier to navigate than it had been with Logan. When they did have sex for the first time, the virginity question had come up and that time, Tweek didn’t have to lie; on purpose or my omission. He didn’t have to go into a full explanation about it either, Blake hadn’t asked.

They were at the point mentioning exes wasn’t all that weird. Blake had had two other boyfriends before him. Tweek did mention Logan, and when he mentioned Craig he noted they were ten and that seemed to put Blake into the camp of people who thought that was just some pure and innocent kid thing.

It was times like that he wondered why he and Craig still put some much leverage on it. They were just kids, but they were also kids who felt a lot for one person and weren’t sure how to really process that. Kids who let themselves realise they were gay after denial was making them utterly miserable.

It wasn’t their fault either, they were just kids. But it was times like that a nagging thought came about what could’ve or even would’ve happened if he and Craig had kept at it and dated as teenagers. It wasn’t something he needed or wanted to think about, he didn’t want to be that person stuck on ‘what if’s’.

He liked Blake a lot. He wasn’t at the point of love, but he was definitely in the neighbourhood of it.

Falling asleep next to him was great, and maybe they had some kind of future. That’s what Blake looked like to him, a future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know every girl in South Park is a lesbian?


	44. Chapter 44

“I’m sorry,” Tweek said, staring at Clyde in their living room. “You’re doing _what_?”

Clyde rolled his eyes at him. “I said I’m moving in with Sophia.”

Sophia had been Clyde’s longest relationship, which was rocking into eight months. While that can technically be seen as a long time, it was pretty quick to move in with someone. Especially someone with Clyde’s track record.

“You can afford this place on your own,” Clyde pointed out. “And you said you were going to be promoted to a full time baker at work once you get your certificate. What’s the big deal?”

“This is not about the apartment! You’re right, I can afford it. But you barely know this girl.”

“I do know her!” he defended. “And it’s not too soon. Some people get married within three months of knowing a person.”

“Some people also get married the night they meet someone while drunk in Vegas. Doesn’t mean shit.”

“Why are you being so pissy? I love this girl, I want to move in with her.”

He didn’t doubt that. But it just seemed so idiotic to move in with her so soon, especially when he had his relationship with Blake to compare it to. They’d been together even longer and it still felt far too soon to move in.

“It feels right,” Clyde went on. “I know you might think I’m an idiot and moving too fast. But I can’t explain it. I’ve been searching for the right person for so long and I think I’ve actually found her. It feels right.”

With the desperate look Clyde was giving him, it definitely indicated he wasn’t going to be able to change his mind. Tweek could manage on his own, that wasn’t the problem. He just didn’t want Clyde’s first genuinely real relationship to crash and burn.

“Fine, clearly I can’t stop you. Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

He smiled and clasped his shoulder. “Hey, be happy you’ll finally have the place to yourself.”

“Yeah, thankfully I no longer have to hear Sophia faking orgasms.”

He laughed when the clasp on his shoulder turned into a harsh shove.

* * *

Apparently Kenny had been saving up his work money for Karen to have a dress for prom. Craig was pretty impressed when he saw her role up to their place in a dress that wasn’t fancy my any means, but better than anything the McCormick’s could’ve otherwise afforded.

Their parents wanted to take as many pictures as possible. They’d came out to them a couple of weeks ago and they’d seemed to draw no issue with it.

Craig was pretty sure today was the first time his parents had seen each other in months. Not that they talked at all, but they seemed complicit enough to focus on taking pictures of the girls. Tricia and Karen weirdly worked at a couple.

Kenny was taking pictures with them too. He hadn’t expected him to show up too, but he and Karen seemed pretty close from what he could tell.

When the girls had left, Kenny approached him with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

“Surprised about how gay our little sisters are?” he asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. They’re cute at least.”

He laughed. “My brother was pretty surprised two of his siblings ended up being queer. I think he’s still kinda stuck in the mind set being queer’s like, one in ten-million or something.”

He snorted. If he was being honest, he was surprised by it too. “No kidding. Especially when me and Tweek were the only out kids in high school.”

He nodded. “It is really weird when you think about it. Aside from you guys there is, what? Me, Butters, Red, Nichole, Bebe, Wendy, Stan–” he cut himself off right after he said Stan’s name. He didn’t push further but he definitely almost outed someone on accident. Not his business anyway.

“How are you and Butters going by the way?” He wasn’t the type to be overly invested in other people’s relationships. But he was still at least a little baffled by their pairing that he kind of wanted to know,

“Good,” he shrugged. “We’re both too poor to get our own place but we’ll figure it out.”

He nodded. It made him think of how Clyde had already moved in with that girl he was dating. He hadn’t seen her since last Christmas, but apparently she was enough to him that they were already moving in together. They were moving weirdly fast, especially for Clyde. With the way Tweek talked about how the brought girls home, that relationship was new grounds for him. Hopefully he wouldn’t fuck it up with the rest of them left to help pick up the pieces.

“What about you? Any luck after Stan?” Kenny asked.

He shook his head. “Nah, no luck. Too busy with work and school and whatnot.”

“No dating options there?”

He shook his head. “Not in car mechanics. It reeks of straight guys. All the queers guy I knew were from college. They’ve all graduated but even when I was in college, I never did anything about dating.”

He didn’t talk as much to Nathan, Alex, and Seth as he would’ve liked. They were mostly busy with either finding full times jobs or doing a lot of freelance work. The distance also made it pretty difficult but they did still interact on Twitter or Instagram when they could.

It also made dating really stale. He kind of wished he took Nathan’s offers on setting him up with his friends. He still had no idea how to get a boyfriend for himself. His track record was all over the place. Tweek when they were ten, Jordan through Tinder, the weird one night stand with Thomas, then whatever he could call what he and Stan were.

Actively looking for someone freaked him out a little. His best option was waiting for love to find him. He just wasn’t sure how long that would take.

“Well, good luck then,” he shrugged. “I’m sure there’s a guy out there for you.”

He gave an over dramatic sigh. “Well where is he?”

“He’ll show up, might’ve already met him for all you know.”

Not likely. Unless he didn’t know the guy was queer, his options were minimal. Really minimal.

“Kenny, hey!”

He and Kenny turned to see Stan jogging up to them.

He hadn’t seen Stan in a while. They’d mostly talked through text instead of spending time together. They were much more civil towards each other after they broke up. The goal of friendship was being made but not enough to call each other in the street. Hence probably why he called Kenny.

“Hey, dude,” Kenny said turning to him. “Just missed the girls by a few minutes.”

“Get good pictures?”

He nodded. “I still need to send her them,” he said and glanced at his phone. “And if I don’t leave now I’ll be late for work.” He patted Stan’s back. “See ya.”

“See ya,” Stan said and Kenny ran off.

Once Kenny started down the street, Stan turned and looked at Craig.

“So, are you done here?” Craig asked, and reminded himself he was meant to be nice to him. “I mean, I’m sure you’re busy or something.”

Stan stared at him for a moment. “I, uh, I actually needed to tell you something.”

He blinked at him. “Tell me something?” he echoed.

“Right, uh, it’s just something I thought you needed to know.”

He shrugged. “Okay, what?”

Stan was rigid, his shoulders tense and his mouth gaping open a few moments before closing. He cleared his throat. “You remember how I told you I was dating a guy who was pretty closeted?”

“I do.” He never pressed too much on it. The state Stan was in the night he found him drink was burned in his mind. He never brought it up for that exact reason. It wasn’t his business anyway. “Why?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed. “It was, uh, it was Kyle. My ex– well, no longer my ex.”

He stared at him. “Wait, hold on. _Kyle_?” He didn’t mean to sound so surprised. He wasn’t even sure he was surprised.

He nodded. “I do want to explain what happened, it feels fair to you.”

He stared at him. “Fine, what happened?”

He shuffled in his spot. “It started in like, eleventh grade? We weren’t really sure what we were doing. Kenny and Cartman were the only people who really knew. Butters too eventually. We both didn’t know how to get around to coming out I guess. And he really didn’t want to tell his parents. Which I guess made the both of us more closeted.”

“But you went to prom with Wendy and Bebe, right?”

“We were all each other’s beards, me and Kyle knew they were dating and they knew we were. None of us were out to anyone and well… it just seemed easier. When college rolled around, I told my parents I was bi. I didn’t tell them about Kyle. Kyle and I roomed together and things were nice. Then one day he broke up with me out of nowhere. And I was… mad, upset. Really damn upset. That night you caught me crying we’d been broken up for two months. He’d hooked up with a girl at he party and I lost it I guess. I got really drunk and you found me where I was.”

He tilted his head to the side. “So why are you telling me this?”

“We’re back together. I just thought you should know, it seemed fair. He came out to his parents and we’re planning on, I guess, officially announcing it on Instagram. I just thought it wouldn’t be fair to you to not tell you myself.”

“Thanks?” he said. “I mean, you didn’t have to go out of your way or anything but thanks, I guess.”

Truthfully, he probably wouldn’t have noticed Instagram and would’ve found out some other way. He was kind of glad he made an effort to tell him.

“Honestly, I don’t think anyone would be surprised you two are fucking anyway.”

He stared at him and sighed. “I hate that you’re right.”


	45. Chapter 45

“How’s living alone going?” Craig asked, his legs stretched out on Tweek’s couch.

“Not bad actually,” Tweek said from the kitchen, taking the popcorn from the microwave. “A lot of seniors at the college stayed here so there’s less college students than before.”

He nodded as Tweek came to sit with him on the couch. “I’m guessing prime alone time with Blake then?” he asked, giving him a teasing smile.

He bit his lip, his cheeks tinting pink as he shrugged. “I mean, I was usually at his apartment anyway since his roommate worked a lot.”

He nodded. “I was meaning to ask too, what is the girl Clyde’s dating like anyway?” Craig had met Clyde’s girlfriend about two times. He hadn’t made his mind up about her yet. His old track record made this anomaly hard for him to believe fully.

“Sophia?” he asked, pushing his legs so he could sit down. Craig moved his feet to his lap. A smile touched Tweek lips as he did. “Uh, she seems nice. Clyde seems to like her a lot.”

“Think he’ll breakup with her soon?”

“Maybe? I don’t know, he seems serious about this one. If he wasn’t, she would’ve ended months ago and he would’ve been with at least fourteen more girls.”

“So they’ll probably break up soon and we’re gonna have to console the crybaby?”

He rolled his eyes and offerred him the popcorn. He took a handful and stuffed it into his mouth. “You’re so cynical.”

“You’d know that.”

As Tweek went onto Netflix to pick a movie, Craig’s mind went to Stan. He and Kyle officially came out on Instagram a few days ago. As expected, the response was pretty positive and no one seemed surprised. Stan had texted him about it, telling him it seemed that all of Kyle’s anxieties of coming out was mostly gone. Craig figured they’d gone to the general kind you get in public where you avoided holding your partners had out of fear of getting jumped. That was a normal fear he found a lot of people had.

Reaching over to get popcorn, Craig said, “Did you see how Stan and Kyle are dating?”

He nodded, tossing a kernel into his mouth. “Oh yeah, saw it on Instagram. Not surprised I guess.”

“Me either,” he nodded. “Stan actually detailed their relationship to me.”

He snorted. “That was nice of him. You’re not mad at him at all?”

“Why would I be?”

“Don’t know,” he shrugged. “Just checking. You were obviously a rebound.”

“Oh I was definitely a rebound. But I told you we were really just fuck buddies. I don’t care if that I was a rebound, it was worth it.”

He smirked. “Needed to know the touch of a man again?” he teased.

He playfully kicked him but before he could, Tweek grabbed his ankle.

“Hey!” Craig cried, trying to pry his ankle out of his hand. “Let go of me!”

Tweek laughed. “Nah.”

Craig jumped forward and grabbed his hand. Except he had too much force and in the process of getting his hand off his leg, he ended up on top of him.

Tweek laughed even harder. “Get off me, dickbag,” he shrieked and pushed on his chest.

Craig snorted and got off of him. When he leaned back he put his feet back in Tweek’s lap, and he smiled as he did. Craig turned on his side and rest watched the TV as Tweek finally chose a movie.

On accident, he fell asleep on the couch and when he woke up, Tweek’s head was resting on his stomach. He didn’t push him away, deciding to let him sleep and fall back asleep.

* * *

Apparently Sophia was different from Clyde’s previous girlfriends. Tweek knew that for sure when he said he’d dropped the question on her.

“So, wait?” Craig asked, sitting on the back rest of Tweek’s couch. Tweek was just staring at Clyde in disbelief, as were Jimmy and Token. “And she said yes?”

Clyde nodded with a huge grin on his face. “She said yes!”

“Dude, what the hell,” Jimmy said. “You’re only t-t-twenty-t-t-two.”

“And?”

“And that’s way too young to get married,” Token said, crossing his arms over his chest.

He gave the group an annoyed look. “It’s not too young, it’s a completely normal age to get married.”

“Maybe if you’ve been dating someone for more than a few years. And definitely not a few months, Token said. “You’ve only been with this girl for a year.”

“Again, a normal amount.”

Tweek was too stunned to speak. A year at their age was definitely not enough. His history with girls made it even more surprising. Tweek couldn’t understand how he could go from that to dropping on his knee only a year out of college.

“Did you get her pregnant or something?” Craig asked, cocking his head to the side as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“No!” he said, narrowing his eyes at him. “Look, I love her. I want to marry her. And if that makes me some kind of idiot–”

“You are,” Craig cut in.

“–then fine. I’m still going to marry her. I just don’t want to settle for a girl who I wasn’t sure of from the start. I know it’s corny, but honestly, it’s a you know when you know sort of thing. And that’s what it is– I just know. It’s better than settling because I never thing I’ll find someone. Why put myself through that?”

His words reminded him of when he tried to reason moving in with her so quickly. He still thought Clyde was an idiot, but at least he was consistent.

“Have you even started trying to plan the wedding?” Tweek asked, finally finding his voice.

He nodded. “It’s gonna have to be all big, traditional, and, uh, extremely Catholic.”

All four of them gave a collective groan. “Seriously?” Craig asked. “I swore never again to go to another boring ass mass.”

“And the bread t-t-t-tastes like p-p-p-paper,” Jimmy added.

“Yeah, I never want to try it anyway,” Tweek said.

“You can’t have communion, dude,” Token said. “You’re not Catholic and didn’t do communion.”

“Lucky,” Craig muttered.

“We’ll just tell you what to do on the day,” Clyde assured.

“Also,” Craig asked. “Is it Catholic for parent reasons or are you dating, like, a proper Catholic?”

“Both, I guess?” he shrugged.

“And is she a raging homophobe?”

Tweek glanced at him and was surprised to see a sincere expression. Tweek probably wouldn’t have thought to ask it himself but he wasn’t the Catholic one, or at least not the one who grew up Catholic.

Clyde held up his hands in a defence stance. “Don’t worry, she’s not.”

“Let me guess, she has gay friends?”

“How did you– never mind, you’re just gonna make fun of me.”

“Good call.”

“She knows you and Tweek are gay, and I wouldn’t marry a homophobe anyway. Wouldn’t want to put my future child through that if they’re gay. Other than the obvious stuff, she’s just Catholic in the going to church sense.”

“And I can confirm not in the abstinence sense,” Tweek muttered.

He felt Craig give him a light kick. He turned to him and saw he was grinning at him. He grinned back and turned back to Clyde.

“Well, as stupid as I genuinely think you are,” Craig said. “This is better than putting your dick into any girl who lets you.”

“I agree actually,” Tweek said. “Especially after how many girls you went through a few years ago.”

Jimmy and Token gave their own congratulations. They were probably all surprised that out of the five of them, somehow Clyde was the first one of them to get engaged.


	46. Chapter 46

Apparently Clyde’s future in-laws were more than ready to fund his and Sophia’s wedding. Clyde had told them about his proposal three months ago, and they were already throwing an engagement party. The wedding was only four months away.

Clyde had chosen Craig to be his best man. He wouldn’t say he was surprised, even if their hectic adult lives made it harder this see each other as much as they had in their teenage years, they were still close. Jimmy, Token, and Tweek were groomsmen too. The wedding was going to be decently big so there were more groomsmen, but Craig was pretty sure they weren’t just there to fill in space.

The wedding party was meant to come together, so they had to go to Clyde’s place. Sophia was at her parents who lived somewhere in Denver, Craig assumed.

Clyde had promised he wasn’t going to force him to make a speech. Craig was terrible with words to begin with, so it was best to save everything for his best man speech. Which he still needed to start. He hadn’t found the right words quite yet, a part of him still held some doubts. He still saw Clyde as the guy who hit on girls he thought were cute and had relationships shorter than the time it took to cook a Hot Pocket.

He wasn’t going to mention that in his speech. He’d already decided to skip all of the typical jokes straight people made about hating their spouse. A piece of him knew that was typical for best man speeches, and there was no one he was going to stoop to straight people humour.

“Do you have the bachelor party worked out yet?” Token asked, reeling his legs on Clyde’s couch. They were both already dressed in his suit, minus their shoes. The rest of Clyde’s side of the wedding party — which included Tweek, Jimmy, a few of Clyde’s college friends, and Sophia’s brother — were getting around them.

He shook his head. “Not yet,” he said. “Clyde’s still working out the guest list anyway.” He had no idea who was coming for certain outside of the wedding party and people he just straight up didn’t know. He had to ask him if any of their friends from South Park would be coming, he needed to know which headaches to prepare for.

“Oh can I make a suggestion,” one of Clyde’s friends turned to him. Julian, he remembered. “There’s a really good strip club in—”

“We’re not going to a strip club,” Craig cut him off in a deadpan tone. Clyde had said himself he didn’t want to go to one, other than it being entirely cliché he knew how much he and Tweek wouldn’t want to go. His own words had been _‘the night’s meant to be fun for everyone, I won’t put you through that.’_

“What?” Julian looked at him wide eyed. “What the hell do you mean?”

He shrugged. “Clyde said he didn’t want to go to one.”

“Bachelor parties are the only times when it’s totally okay to get a lap dance and your girlfriend can’t get mad at you.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works.”

Where was Tweek? Craig was already getting exhausted by the sheer amount of heterosexuality.

“Well, unless you have a girlfriend I don’t get why you wouldn’t want to go to a stip club.”

He didn’t miss Token’s snort next to him. Craig inwardly groaned. “Well, I’m gay so I wouldn’t want a girl to give me a lap dance anyway.”

He blinked at him for a few moments and nodded. “Right. Okay, that makes sense why Clyde wouldn’t want to go to strip club. It’d probably be torture for you.”

“I’m not _repulsed_ by girls. I’m just not into them the way you are.”

Julian just shrugged and retuned to his own friends. Craig rolled his eyes.

Tweek came out of the bathroom, mostly in his suit. His hair for once in his life wasn’t a mess, tamed with a thick layer over hair gel. His tie hung loosely around his neck, and he wasn’t wearing his jacket.

“How long did that take you?” Craig commented, as Tweek came up to the couch.

“Over an hour. This is the best I can get,” he said, and smoothed his hair. “It’s terrible but I wanted to at least try.”

Craig smiled. “And your tie?”

“I don’t know how to tie it.”

He nodded. “I’ll do it.” He stood up and took his tie between his fingers. In a few swift movements, he had it tied perfectly.

“Thanks,” Tweek said.

“So,” Craig asked. “Is Blake coming?”

He nodded. “Yeah. He’ll meet me there.”

He smiled. “Cool. Are you guys serious?”

“Maybe? Not really I guess. We haven’t said we love each other or anything.”

“You haven’t?”

Before he could reply, Clyde shouted that it was time to leave. They were taking a limo to the hotel. Craig made a note to make sure he sat next to Tweek.

Craig could’ve easily guessed being trapped in a limo with a bunch of straight guys he didn’t know would be terrible. Typically he’d just make fun of them with Tweek, but unfortunately in the process of getting into the limo, they were separated. They were at least able to share looks of annoyance when things got a little too much to handle.

There were already guests at the hotel when they arrived. He hadn’t seen Sophia, so he just guessed she was coming later.

The engagement party’s set up was pretty fancy, and that did make Craig wonder exactly how much money his fiancée’s parents had. The engagement party was being held at a hotel, in a fancy ballroom sort of place. Round tables were set out across the room and it was obvious most of the money went into the decor. It made him wonder what the actual wedding and the reception will be like if they were going this fancy just for the engagement party.

Clyde showed them where the wedding party table was, but most of his half of the wedding party went right to the alcohol.

Craig was seated right next to Clyde, and Tweek was next to him. When Tweek asked where Blake would be sitting Clyde said there was a table just for signifiant others of the wedding party.

Craig and Tweek were the only ones sat at the table. Craig wasn’t really in the mood to drink quite yet and Tweek was glued to his phone, checking on Blake.

“Blake almost here?” Craig asked.

He nodded, still staring at his phone. “Yeah.”

He shuffled in his seat, glancing around the table. Aside from them it was empty, the other groomsmen had gone from the drinks to socialising with other guests. Jimmy and Token were talking to Kevin and Scott Malkinson.

“I was wondering,” he said as he turned towards Tweek “What were you saying before, if it’s okay to pry.”

“You mean about not loving my boyfriend? Even though I’ve been with him longer than Clyde has with Sophia?”

He awkwardly nodded. “Yeah, that.”

He sighed and dropped his phone not o the table before he turned to him. “I like him, he’s a good guy. I just don’t think I’m in love with him. Is that weird?”

He shook his head. “No. Guess not.” He wanted to question why he would date him if he still wasn’t in love with him. In his mind, falling in love with someone you were actively dating probably wouldn’t take over a year. Although he was one to talk when he dated Stan for six months and certainly never came close to loving him.

“I got him to play Detroit: Become Human,” he added.

He smiled. “What he think about it?”

“He was happy to have me to get the good ending,” he laughed.

“Did you tell him what to do?”

He grinned and blushed a little. “Only because he’d asked.”

When he turned back to his phone, Craig smiled at him, feeling a warm feeling in his stomach.


	47. Chapter 47

Tweek knew visiting his parents had to happen eventually. It was just that he preferred the idea of avoiding it for as long as possible.

The thing was though, it felt wrong to not go and see them. They were still his parents, as much as he’d come to hate them.

But the mere idea brought so much anxieties. Even if it would be a pretty short trip to see them, the idea of coming face to face with them freaked him out. He still held so much anger and resentment towards them.

His motivation to see the was the fact he never really had closure with them. To ask them why they did what they did to him. Maybe the experience will be different now that they’re apart for a while.

He wasn’t sure what he would even ask. It just felt like he needed to see them. Even it only got anger out of him. He’d been holding it in for so long that he needed to get it out.

God he really needed to go to therapy. Maybe he could with his more time. God knew he needed it.

The bright side to going to see his parents was that he wasn’t going alone. When he talked about it to Craig, he offered to come with him for moral support. He’d been there more than anyone after his parents. He trusted him to be some kind of support to him more than anyone.

“So are the prisons far from each other?” Craig asked from Tweek’s passenger seat.

“Yeah,” he said in a gruff tone. “My mom’s at Denver Women's Correctional Facility, then my dad’s at Arrowhead Correctional Center. We need to go to Cañon City for him.”

“Jesus.”

“We should make it before processing closes. Hopefully at least.”

“Okay,” he nodded. “Do we need to do anything when we get there?”

“We’ve already filled out the applications, so all there is left is getting there.”

He could feel Craig watching him. He was probably looking out for any signs of distress that might occur. Surprisingly, other than nerves, he’d been doing mostly okay. He didn’t think it’d last long but it was better than being a ball of anxiety while driving there.

They arrived at Denver Women's Correctional Facility about fifteen minutes before processing had even began. They sat in the waiting room, Tweek avoiding eye contact with everyone in the waiting room.

Craig helped to distract him by taking out his phone and playing a few music videos. He rested his head on his shoulder, just out of natural instinct to see the screen properly. Craig nuzzled closer to him. His warmth was an overall welcome feeling, the kind of comfort he’d wanted and needed for this.

When processing finally started, the time between that and going inside to visit felt like an eternity. Craig stayed close to his side, keeping a hand on the small of his back. He’d always appreciate that he knew the right ways to comfort in times like this.

They sat in the visiting room, and after a few minutes his mom came out.

The guard said they were allowed to hug at the start of the session. He hadn’t been planning on it but before he could say no, his mom held out her arms expecting one. He couldn’t stop say no after that.

He stood up and let her wrap her arms around him. He stood stiff, not hugging her back.

“Hey, sweetheart,” she said. “I missed you.”

He didn’t reply, and she stepped away. Her eyes shifted to Craig. She smiled. “Craig! I didn’t know you were coming. It’s good to see you.”

Tweek glanced at him and he saw him bite his lip. “Hi, Mrs Tweak.”

They shared a look before he sunk down next to him. He wasn’t going to lose his nerve when he’d just gotten here.

His mom stared at him for a moment before taking a seat across from them.

“So, what’ve you been up to?” his mom asked, smiling at him.

He felt Craig squeeze his knee. Was he already shaking? They’d barely started.

“I work in a bakery,” he shrugged. He still worked mostly in the front area. Sweet Dreams Delights didn’t need an early morning baker quite yet, but he might get it if one of the other bakers left.

“Really? How’re you finding that?”

“Good.”

She nodded. “And the coffee place?”

He blinked at her. He still relished in the memory of smashing up that god forsaken cash register. “Sold it. Helped me pay for a baking qualification.”

She gaped at for a moment. “Oh.” Her voice was mostly emotionless. Tweek had assumed she wouldn’t care all that much since she only married into the business rather than was born into it.

“Did you know?” He finally asked. He didn’t want to draw it out, he wanted to know for sure whether or not she had known about the meth. If she hadn’t, then he could sleep a little better at night. If she did though, he’d have to live his whole life knowing she was somehow okay with what had been done to him.

Her silence destroyed that though. “Mom,” he said again, his breathing starting to get heavy. “Did you know about the coffee. About the meth.”

She stared down at her lap. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

He felt Craig’s hand on his back. He shook his head. “Why? Why did you let him do it?”

She didn’t answer. Maybe she didn’t have one. Maybe it did all come down to his dad and she just let it all happen. But he couldn’t forgive her for that either.

He stood up. “We’re leaving,” he said in a flat tone. He turned to Craig who was sat still. “Let’s go.”

“Tweek, wait.” She shot up and caught his arm.

“No touching, Tweak,” snapped one on the guards.

He pulled his arm away before she took it away herself. “No, we’re going.”

“Tweek,” she said again, this time so desperately. “I really am so, so sorry. I know we shouldn’t have… I know it was wrong.”

“Then why, mom,” he asked, letting out a shaky breath. “Why the hell would you feed me meth, even when I was a fucking _child_?”

Tears started to prickle her eyes. “It was only a little bit, I thought it wouldn’t be too bad.”

There it was. Her excuse for her actions. Not an explanation. He bet she told herself that every night just to fall asleep.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. “Come on,” Craig said. “Let’s just go.”

He took hold of his hand and he let him drag him outside. He knew his mom was watching but he did look back.

He did let go of his hand until they got to his car. He still had most composure and it was coming back now that he was out of the prison.

When they reached his car, he fished out his keys and got into his car. He stared at the steering wheel for a few moments, trying to get a hold of himself.

“Tweek?” Craig’s voice cut into his thoughts. He turned to look at him and he saw his brows were drawn into a soft expression. “You okay?”

He bit his lip and shrugged. “As best as I can be.”

He nodded. “Think you can handle the next three hours?”

“Only thing I can do is try.”

* * *

Three hours later, they were at the prison where Tweek’s dad was.

Craig had been doing his best to support him throughout this whole thing. When he had asked him to come with him, the obvious answer was ‘yes’.

Tweek still hadn’t told his boyfriend about his parents, and Craig was pretty sure he made up some lie about what he was doing today. It was going to be a long day, and Saturday’s were usually reserved for Tweek to hang out with Blake. Craig usually worked weekends, and he was still balancing that with his mechanic classes, so there was the risk of his boyfriend getting jealous. He really hoped Tweek would tell him eventually.

Craig actually got on fine with Blake. He seemed to be a good guy. He for sure hoped he was too. At least the kind who wouldn’t freak out over his boyfriends parents being in prison.

Tweek got really shaken seeing his mom. Craig did his best to comfort him but he could only do so much. He could tell it was overwhelming for him and his usual methods weren’t enough. It made him feel useless, but he knew him just being there was good enough.

They got there in the early afternoon, in time for processing. As they walked to the doors, Craig raised his brow when he noticed a couple anomalies dressed in white shirts and black ties.

“Are those Mormons?”

They in fact, were. They seemed to just be standing outside of the doors and handing out pamphlets. Or attempting to at least.

“Let’s just avoid eye contact,” Tweek said and opened his door. Craig followed and jogged to his side. Tweek’s hands were stuffed into his pockets and his shoulders were slumped. Craig wasn’t sure what was running through his mind. All he knew for sure was that he might break at any moment.

The Mormons did attempt to make conversation but they walked right passed them. They would be terrible members anyway, considering the whole gay thing. Not that they needed to know that.

This time in the waiting room, the effort to calm him with music didn’t work. Any time he did try to comfort him with touch, Tweek shouldered him away and leaned away from him.

When they were finally allowed in, Tweek remained silent as they walked in. Tweek’s arms were crossed and clutching his biceps. At times like this, he would’ve done his usual touch comfort. But after the waiting room, he decided to avoid it. This prison was far more intimidating than the women’s one. Maybe he felt intimidated.

They found a table and Tweek kept his eyes to his lap. He hadn’t said a word since they’d gotten out of the car. He felt useless, he wanted to make him feel better but Tweek clearly didn’t want to.

He saw Mr. Tweak walking towards them and he nudged Tweek with his elbow. Tweek looked up, his face pale. Craig bit his lip and looked back to Mr. Tweak.

“Tweek!” he grinned. “It’s good to see you.” He opened up his arms for a hug but unlike with his mom, Tweek stayed in place.

Mr. Tweak stared at Tweek for a moment with his arms out, before awkwardly sinking into the chair across from him.

“Craig,” he smiled at him. “I didn’t expect to see you too.” He looked between them. “So are you two–”

“No,” they said in unison. The obvious end to the sentence was “are you two dating again?” That was something his dad had never seemed to let go of. Even in prison.

He awkwardly shuffled across from them. “Long drive, huh?” Neither of them replied beyond Tweek shrugging and Craig grunting. “Uh, Tweek, you saw your mom today too right? How is she?”

A beat passed before he shrugged. “Okay, I guess.”

He nodded. “I’m sure you’re doing great at the coffee place.”

There it was. That godforsaken coffee shop. The thing that Craig was pretty sure Tweek hated most in the world.

“I sold it.” His tone was harsh. “Would’ve burnt it down if I could’ve.”

He blinked at him. “You… you sold the family’s coffee place?”

“What? You think I would’ve happily taken over? Fuck no.”

Craig gaped at him. It wasn’t hurt that had building up, it was pure anger.

“Tweek I–”

“No, let me do the talking for once. I gave up college for that shithole, and guess what? I used the money to get a baking qualification. The best I could get after you got yourself locked up here. And, oh yeah; you seriously unapologetically fed me _meth_? And always have? You’re such a horrible father. And I can actually say that I hate you.”

He stared at him. “Tweek,” his tone was calm. “It was just a little bit of meth. My dad did it to me too and–”

“Don’t even try,” he cut him off with a glare. “I’m not coming to see you ever again.”

He stood up from his chair and didn’t even look at his dad before leaving. Craig looked at Mr. Tweak before standing up to chase after him.

“Tweek!” he called but he ignored him. He angrily pushed the door open and started for the parking lot.

The Mormons were still there, and when Tweek passed them they held out pamphlets to him.

“Hello, would you like to talk about—”

Tweek, his shoulder tense and his teeth grinding together turned to them. “We suck dick! Leave us alone!” He swung around continued to the parking lot.

Craig was in so much shock, he stopped following him for a moment and gaped. The two Mormons seemed completely thrown off too, even going a little pale.

When he came back to his senses, he ran after Tweek, calling his name as he did.

Tweek was fumbling to take out his keys, almost dropping it with the way he was shaking.

When he finally got to his side, he put his hands on his shoulders. “Tweek, look at me,” he said in the most soothing voice he possibly could.

He was still shaking, his face red with anger. “I hate him.”

“I know.”

“I hate him so fucking much.”

“And he deserves that.”

Tweek didn’t say anything else, he just wrapped his arms around him and rested his chin on his shoulder. Craig hugged him back and rubbed his back. There was nothing he could say. He just needed to be there for him.

When Tweek started to calm down he stepped away from him. “Can you drive? I don’t think I can.”

“Of course.”


	48. Chapter 48

Clyde and Sophia had come into the bakery that morning to work out things for the wedding cake. The wedding was less than a month away now, which felt crazy. Their suits were all sorted and Craig had set up their bachelor party to be at steak dinner. He was looking forward to it, it’d be a nice cheer up after visiting his parents last weekend.

Tweek had ultimately decided it was best for him to cut both of his parents out of his life. They were as good as dead to him. It was easier for him to just not care.

He was happy he brought Craig with him. He definitely wouldn’t have been able to drive home in his state after seeing his dad.

He hadn’t planned on yelling at him. He was so furious and it had been thinking about it the entire three hour drive. His mom had already set a fire in him, his dad had made everything blow up. All the anger, hurt, and resentment that had built up since they’d gotten arrested had finally come out. He’d been holding in his anger and focussing on his shock and hurt. But seeing them again made him so furious he couldn’t even handle it.

When he and Craig had gotten back to his apartment, Craig focussed on making him feel better and they fell asleep on the couch watching Netflix. It was what he’d needed and wouldn’t ever take back.

The sound of the bakery’s bell rang and Tweek turned towards the door. He smiled when he saw Craig, wearing the overalls he had to wear for his apprenticeship.

“Hey grease monkey,” he smiled and leaned against the counter. “I didn’t except to see you.”

He smiled right back at him. “What? Unhappy to see me?”

He shook his head. “Just surprised.”

“I just wanted to check on you to make sure you were okay after everything.”

That made sense. They hadn’t seen each other since he left the morning following the parents situation, and he had to make up for the shift he’d missed while balancing his apprenticeship. It was like they’d gone back to when they were too busy to do much of anything. Not Florida level but close enough.

“Thanks,” he smiled. “But I think I’m okay now. I don’t have to think about them anymore.” Not even when they were let out. That was a long enough way though, Tweek’s life would probably be completely different by that time. Maybe he’d have a family of his own, where the question of his parents was never addressed.

“Want a coffee? On me.” He mostly asked because he was desperate to change the subject. While Craig was the only person he could really talk about it with, he didn’t want to focus on it. He’d rather have his company in a far more positive manner.

After he accepted his offer Tweek turned to make it. He knew how he liked it, he’d memorised his order years ago.

He handed his cup to him and they smiled at each other.

“I don’t have work tonight by the way,” he said. “Do you wanna hang out after I go home and take a quick shower?”

His shift ended in two hours so it actually worked out perfectly. “Sure, just come by at six. I’ll get some takeout.”

If it was possible, Craig grinned even more.

When he left, Tweek smiled at the door. He must’ve stared for a while because April seemed to materialise right next to him.

“Ooh, who’s the guy?”

He jumped in his spot and turned to her. She was grinning at him. “What?”

She nodded towards the door. “The guy that just came in.”

Oh. “Uh, old friend.”

“You seemed pretty smiley around him, I thought he was something else.”

He didn’t need her to fill in the blank for him. “Nope, we’re friends. I’ve known him forever.”

She stared at him than shrugged. “Okay. I just haven’t seen you light up like that in a while.”

“We’re close, that’s all.”

“Hey, I’m not saying you can’t be. Just noticed you don’t really react like that around your boyfriend.”

Before he could reply, she turned back into the baking section. The back of his neck started to feel hot while he ignored her point about Blake.

* * *

“How’s this whole apprenticeship been anyway?” Tweek asked, setting down the takeout Chinese boxes on the coffee table.

Craig, who had a mouthful of noodles in his mouth, shrugged. “Fine.”

He scrunched his nose. Craig knew how much he hated people talking with their mouths full but it seemed to be the one thing that Craig never stopped.

“It’ll be a good job,” he said once he’d swallowed. “I like it. Just wish I got paid doing this.”

He nodded. “I don’t get why they don’t pay.”

“Never heard the phrase, ‘get paid in experience’?”

He laughed. “How’re your coworkers though?”

“Fine. I kind of stopped trying to hide my nail polish so they learnt pretty quickly I’m gay after being asked about it.”

“And?”

He shrugged. “Not as bad as I had thought it would be, I haven’t even gotten gross and invasive questions.”

He smiled. “Will you be out when you start to work then?”

“If it comes up, sure. I’ll keep my same level of out-ness.”

He nodded. Before he could ask what movie he wanted to wanted to watch, he felt his phone buzz. He glanced down to see it was a text from Blake.

Blake: _wanna hang out?_

He felt his stomach sink. Had it only now occurred to him he hadn’t been hanging out with Blake that much? But he couldn’t just abandon Craig right now.

“You okay?”

He looked back at Craig who was giving him a concerned look. “I’m fine,” he said. “Just gotta answer this.”

He picked it up and replied quickly.

Tweek: _cant. Hanging out w/ Craig_

He set his phone on do not disturb and put it on the coffee table. Whatever response he had could wait until later. Much later.

“Anyway, what do you wanna watch?”

Craig frowned at him. Were his nerves that obvious?

“Uh, wanna re-watch Love, Simon?”

He smiled, hiding his relief. “Yeah, that’d be fun.”

* * *

Blake had invited Tweek to his place. That in itself wasn’t too weird, he went to his house all the time. But the text message that he sent was ‘ _can you come over?_ ’ He could feel sheer coldness of the message through the screen.

He stood outside his door, staring at it before taking a deep breath and knocking. A few moments passed and the door opened.

He definitely wasn’t imagining things, Blake’s shoulders were stiff. He was chewing his lip while he avoided eye contact. “Hi.”

“Hey.”

He let him in and he dragged his feet in. No hug or kiss, like there usually would be.

Tweek turned to him as he closed the door. Blake was avoiding eye contact, taking interest in the ground instead.

“Where were you last weekend?”

He frowned. “What?”

He finally looked at him. “Where were you last weekend?”

A lump formed in his throat. Last weekend was when he went to see his parents. He’d lied and told Blake he had work. Blake had work too, and it wasn’t like he told him his shift times. He never saw him at work to begin with.

Even though he knew he was about to be caught in a lie, he still gave it. “I told you, I was at work.”

He narrowed his eyes at him. “No you weren’t. I went into check on you because my boss let me go early, one of the workers said you weren’t working that day.”

He didn’t answer, he just let the words hang in the air. He had two options, tell him the truth which was definitely not going to happen or make up some kind of lie. But what could he tell him that would be a convincing lie?

“I’m gonna ask you this once, were you with Craig?”

It felt like a punch in his gut. Even though that was part of the truth, he knew what he’d meant. He swallowed. “Define, ‘with’,” he challenged.

“You know perfectly well what I mean.”

“I was hanging out with him, fine, yes. That’s it.”

Blake never got jealous, and maybe it was because Tweek had always been open and honest when he would hang out with Craig. How this instance looked from Blake’s perspective though, it must’ve looked terrible.

Blake stared at him. “Do you love me?”

“What?” he blinked at him. How did he even get to that?

“I love you. I’ve honestly loved you for a while. But something told me you hadn’t gotten there yet. Am I wrong?”

He wanted to say yes. That he was completely and utterly in love with him. But the thing was, even now, he wasn’t. He didn’t love him romantically at all. He hated to admit to it, he really didn’t want to. It wouldn’t be fair to Blake if he pretended.

“I’m sorry,” was all he could say.

Blake adverted his gaze, staring at his feet.

“You should go. I think we’re done.”

“Blake–”

“Tweek, it’s over. I’m tired of pretending.”

Well, he definitely no longer had a plus one to Clyde’s wedding.


	49. Chapter 49

Craig wasn’t sure what he’d expected when Tweek texted him to tell him he needed to see him and needed to see him at that exact moment. Craig left without question, driving to Denver as fast as he could, which wasn’t kind to his piece of shit car.

When Tweek answered the door, Craig was met with a tear stained face and red eyes.

He gaped at him. “You okay?”

He wiped a tear away. “Blake broke up with me.”

Without hesitating, he wrapped his arms around him in a hug. Tweek relaxed against him as he hugged him back, burying his face in his neck.

He rubbed his back, feeling him relax against him.

Craig got him a glass of water as an attempt to help calm him down. When he handed it to him, he’d wrapped himself in a blanket.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

Tweek was staring at his glass of water, clutching it to his stomach. “No.”

He bit his lip. “What do you want to do?” He was honestly ready to do anything to make him feel better.

He turned to look at him. “Honestly? I want to go out. Like, to a gay bar. We haven’t been to one in ages.”

“And get some dick?”

That got a smile. “Mostly some fun. I want to be that sterotypical gay who dances horribly to Lady Gaga.”

“Well, I won’t dance but I’ll come to support you.”

* * *

They took an Uber to a nearby gay bar, it was best to avoid drinking and driving. Tweek had asked the Uber to park about a block away, mostly on the chance this guy was a homophobe.

The line to get in was decently short. They got in after about five minutes of waiting. When they got in, he immediately noticed that it was a busier version of the other gay bars they’d been to. There were tables to relax and drink at but there was a much larger dance floor than other bars they’d been to.

The music was loud, so loud that they had to yell to hear each other. They found a small table to sit at in the crowd. One with a clear view of the dance floor.

Nearby them, he noticed a group of women. Usually he’d assume it was queer women but he quickly realised what it actually was by the sash one of the women was wearing.

“Looks like we decided to come on the day a bachelorette party is here,” he said, leaning towards Tweek and nodded towards the group.

Tweek turned and looked at the group. He frowned before coming that. “Annoying as hell, but I won’t let that ruin my fun,” he said and stood up from his seat.

He smiled at him. “Okay, go be gay.”

He watched as Tweek walked down to the dance floor, practically being eaten up by the crowd. He stood up and went to get himself a drink before deciding to get closer to the dance floor.

The dance floor was separated from the seating area by being sunken into the ground with a railing blocking the it.

There were a lot of people, far more than Craig was used to seeing in these kind of settings. Lady Gaga wasn’t the music of choice, instead he recognised it as one by Dua Lipa. He nodded his head to the beat, mouthing the lyrics he recognised.

Within the crowd, he spotted Tweek. He was attempting to dance to the music, and was doing it quite poorly. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched.

The smile quickly faded though. A guy went up to Tweek and grabbed his arm. Tweek seemed to almost jump out of his skin at the touch and attempted to push the guy off. The guy didn’t seem to listen and grabbed his other arm, pulling him towards him. When Tweek tried to push him off again, this time attempting to shove his hands against his chest, the guy only held on tighter.

Without even thinking, Craig dropped his drink on the closest table and ran to the dance floor. He shoved people out of the way, not even bothering to say sorry. He needed to get to Tweek before this could get worse.

When he got to Tweek, his initial effort to shove this guy off was replaced with sheer terror. He was pale, even in the flashing lights, and staring at this guy wide eyed as he attempted to get a little too handsy.

Before he could though, Craig forcefully pushed him off Tweek.

“Dude, what the fuck? He was clearly not interested,” he gritted his teeth at him. He didn’t want this to get violent but if he had to, he would. Tweek would probably help when he was out of freeze mode.

The guy glared at him. “What’s it to you?”

Before he could respond, he felt arms around him from behind and being pulled against a chest. “He’s my boyfriend,” Tweek said. “So fuck off.”

The words rang in his head. _His boyfriend_. He hadn’t heard those words associated with Tweek (that hadn’t been a misunderstanding) in a long time. And hearing them again shouldn’t make his stomach warm, right?

He realised he should be playing along, and covered one hand over the hands on his stomach. “Yep, his boyfriend. I’m his boyfriend.”

The guy’s eyes shifted between them, which wouldn’t have been much considering their heard were physically touching. “Keep a hold of your man then.”

The guy turned and walked right off and Craig felt his body relax.

He also realised that Tweek hadn’t let go.

“You done there?” he asked, trying to crane his head to look at him.

“No,” he shook his head, but he also seemed to be limited by the closeness. “In case he comes back.”

“So, you what? Want to just fake things until this guy goes away?”

“Could you?”

He really would do anything to make Tweek feel better. He wasn’t going to bother with trying to find someone anyway, so it wouldn’t effect his night. “Sure.”

He felt him relax against him. “Thanks, Craig.”

He felt stiff for a moment, his stomach going into knots. He brushed it off, Tweek was always touchy with him sure, but he also hadn’t been with a guy since Stan. Maybe his body was just extra sensitive because of it. That made sense, right?

“Want to get a drink?” Craig asked.

“Mhm.”

They walked to the bar, Tweek clinging to his arm the whole way. They ordered a beer each, and sat at the bar while they drank. They drank quickly, mostly in silence. They sat closely, in case creepy guy was watching.

When they were done, Craig asked for a shot. If no one was driving they might as well drink as much as they could. Tweek seemed to be on the same page, and ordered one for himself.

After Tweek downed his shot and Craig felt him lean close to him.

“I still wanna dance, but I don’t want to go in alone.”

His heart began to race. It was probably the alcohol. He’d usually say that he hated dancing but he was ready to dance to keep the creep off Tweek.

“Okay.”

They were quickly on the dance floor, and Tweek pulled his arms around him so Craig was behind him. He breathed deeply against him. His mind was a little foggy, but he happily swayed against him.

Maybe about three songs later, Tweek turned in his arms. He leaned close to his ear, and Craig could feel his hot breath against him. “I think he’s still watching.”

With hooded eyes, he tried to find the guy in the crowd. He saw him staring at them, an annoyed look on his face.

He turned back to Tweek who was staring at him now. His arms were wrapped around his waist, and Tweek’s were around his neck.

“He is.”

Tweek bit his lip and then a hand was on his face. “Can you kiss me? Just to get this guy off my back?”

He swallowed. A kiss. Something they’d done before. But this time was different. They weren’t little kids who were thrilled by the thought of kissing someone, or teenagers who wanted to lose their virginity. They were adults now. Adult versions of those actions had adult consequences.

But nothing compelled him to say no. His request was pretty reasonable. The guy should back off if he saw them kissing.

“Okay.”

They both hesitated for a few moment, staring at each other. Before Craig had a chance to think about it anymore, he took Tweek’s face into his hands, pulled him closer to him and pressed their lips together.

The kiss wasn’t a peck, or even a hesitant kiss. Because, well, the kiss wasn’t technically new. Regardless of everything, Tweek’s lips were familiar. Even with the small amount of facial hair, his lips were still the same. The only real difference was the experience they’d both had in between. Which seemed to make the kiss better.

He pulled away, and saw Tweek’s face was flushed. He looked back to where the guy was because he didn’t trust himself with what he’d do if he kept his eyes on him.

The guy was still watching them, and he looked straight up annoyed if anything. But definitely still watching.

He leaned forward so he was next to his ear. “He’s still watching us.”

He could feel him breathing against him. “Maybe we should kiss again, just in case.”

He should say no, he should just suggest they go home and come back another night. He would’ve if there wasn’t a voice screaming in his head to say yes.

He responded by kissing him again. Tweek kissed I’m back, just as intense. It was probably because they were buzzed from alcohol, but their tongues soon found their way into each other’s mouths.

Tweek’s hand clasped to the back of his head, pushing his head and, fuck, a small moan came from him. “Fuck,” Craig groaned against his lips.

That should’ve been their clue to stop, they were getting carried away. Really carried away. But it was clear neither of them wanted to stop, and Craig felt they wouldn’t unless one of them did first. Then they could brush it off with getting carried away and blame the alcohol in their systems.

Tweek’s lips stopped any logic from reaching his brain. He didn’t ever want to stop kissing him. And it was clear Tweek didn’t want to stop any time soon either. He was pretty sure it wasn’t to get the creepy guy off either.

When he did pull away though, but only a few millimetres from his lips. He looked at him, and it felt like his blue eyes were staring into his soul.

“Can we go back to my apartment?”

He stared back at him with his mouth gaped open. He quickly nodded. “Yeah.”

It didn’t need to be said that they definitely wouldn’t be sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	50. Chapter 50

The night at Tweek’s felt like a weird dream.

During the Uber ride there they stopped themselves from touching each other, but they were tense the entire time. Craig could only think about touching him, and getting back to his apartment couldn’t have come fast enough.

When they got to there, Tweek grabbed his hand and they practically ran up to his apartment. He’d fumbled with the keys and Craig took it as an opportunity to press his lips against his neck. Warmth spread up his spine when he heard Tweek mutter ‘fuck’.

When they got to his bed, it was definitely far less sloppy than it had been on prom night. That night had been mostly unsure touches and inexperienced exchanges.

That night though? They both had two people up their sleeve to help them know what they were actually doing this time.

The whole thing was a blur of smells and hands and tastes. Somehow they were both foreign and familiar. It brought him back to prom night, where they barely knew what they were doing but they enjoyed themselves.

This time was no different. The experience made it more better, even if they’re two drinks in and at least a little sloppy. But it was definitely nowhere near as sloppy as their first time. The confidence that came from Tweek made him feel like there was a fire in his stomach.

Craig couldn’t explain it, it was like his body had lost control. He needed to feel and touch and taste Tweek.

When he woke up that morning, he felt a cold rush of nothing but regret.

Tweek was still asleep when he woke up. Craig watched him for a few moments before turning to stare at the ceiling.

What had they done? They were best friends, how did they get so carried away? It was like once Tweek’s lips were on his he wasn’t able to think, he just craved him. It didn’t bring him back to when they were kids, it was like a whole new thing that had formed on its own and in its own independent state.

Or maybe a beer and half, as well as a shot made his unable to think clearly.

Yeah, it wasn’t anything but alcohol, as well as Tweek having just been out of a relationship while Craig hadn’t been with a guy in a long time.

Alcohol and hormones. That was it. That was all it was and all it could be. They would just have to go on with their lives and pretend it never happened. It wouldn’t be easy but it sure would be better than letting it sit between them and causing some horrible awkwardness between them.

One thing he’d always been thankful about their breakup was how easy it was. They were able to switch right back to being friends like it was nothing. Even when they’d had sex, there was such a harsh line and defiant understanding it was only to make sure they’d had sex first with someone they’d cared about.

This time, they didn’t have the time to work out an understanding. They got too carried away and unless they shut it out completely, they would have to actually stop and think about if it meant anything.

He heard a groan next to him and Tweek’s eyes drifted open to look at him. He squinted at him for a moment with furrowed brows, before he stared at him wide eyed and his mouthing gaping open.

They stared at each other for a few moments. What could they even say in this moment?

“Well, we definitely had too much to drink,” was all he could think to say. Not a totally true statement. Two drinks was nothing, they weren’t teenagers who puked after Beirut anymore. They were coherent enough to know what they were doing. But it was definitely easier to blame the alcohol, he doubted Tweek wanted to dwell on it either.

Tweek was just staring at him. “Right.” He nodded and sat up. “You wanna use my shower? Towels are in the cupboard in the bathroom.”

He smiled and sat up too. “Thanks, dude.”

He slipped on his boxers and grabbed his clothes from the floor before making his way to the bathroom. He didn’t look at Tweek as he walked, he really just wanted to shower and get the smell and feeling of sex, the smell and feeling of _Tweek_ , off of him.

He just had to put it behind him. They went past prom night quickly enough. That night shouldn’t be any different.

He stayed in the shower way too long, letting the hot water hit his skin. He didn’t feel any better when he got out, he just needed to go home and forget about the night. He wouldn’t even be seeing Tweek for a week, Clyde’s bachelor party was next weekend. They were both too busy to hang out unless they went out of their way to. By then, the night would be behind them.

When he stepped back into Tweek’s room, he saw him on his phone wearing nothing but his boxers.

He really should go home before he did something he regretted.

“Well, I better get going,” he said.

Tweek stiffly looked at him, and then he nodded. “Right.”

He swallowed and nodded back. “I’ll see you next weekend.”

“Okay.”

He got out of there as quickly as he could, not saying another word.

He turned on a random playlist on Spotify as an attempt to drown out his thoughts.

The night was nothing. He didn’t have to think about it because it meant nothing. They were drunk and hormonal, and they were the closest person. Just like when he’d slept with Thomas, or dated Stan. He was hormonal and the opportunity presented itself.

It shouldn’t matter that he and Tweek had a closer friendship than he did with either Stan or Thomas. If anything, his aversion to sleeping with strangers made it make sense. Tweek was someone he trusted, so his mind and body probably just got confused.

It was easier to think that than dwelling too much or too long on it.

When he got back to his mom’s, he made a yell to say he was home. He’d fallen asleep at Tweek’s plenty of times before, so coming home the following day wasn’t out of the ordinary. As long as his body language didn’t indicate it was anything different about that night, it’d be fine.

He got to his room, shut the door behind him, and fell against it.

He just had to hope nothing would change over one dumbass mistake.


	51. Chapter 51

Tweek had been distracted at work all day.

Really, he’d been distracted since Sunday morning. He’d been trying to focus, but in any moment of quiet he became distracted all over again. Because he couldn’t for the life of him stop thinking about what had happened between him and Craig.

He’d replayed the night in his brain over and over again. He came to his aid when a guy was being creepy, and his first thought to get him off for good was to pretend Craig was his boyfriend. He wasn’t exactly sure why, it was the first thing that came to his mind.

He also wanted to keep on dancing, and he was surprised Craig even agreed to go on the dance floor with him. He’d always went on about how much he’d hated dancing.

When they were on the dance floor, barely dancing really, he knew the guy was still watching them. The only thing he could think that would stop him was if he and Craig got touchy. All their mutual hatred of PDA was pushed aside in that moment when they’d kissed.

It should’ve just been a quick kiss and then leave it there. But creepy guy hadn’t given up, so it seemed logical to kiss again. Then they got carried away, and the next thing he knew they were in his bed and all he could focus on Craig’s body.

He wasn’t sure what he’d expected for the next morning. He didn’t expect they’d do anything about it. Why would they? It was clearly a mistake. Tweek was upset about Blake breaking up with him and he wanted something, or someone, to make him feel better. His entire intention at the bar was to sleep with someone.

He just hadn’t thought it’d be Craig. He just wanted his company. He loved his company.

And the more he thought about it, the more he let these thoughts in his head, the more he started to figure out why. It hit him in the face full force, and it felt like it should’ve been glaring obvious.

He was in love with Craig.

When that had hit him, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. And it should’ve been so obvious. It was so obvious he was surprised it took him so long to figure it out.

He couldn’t really pinpoint when it would’ve started. He was such a constant in his life that it was hard to distinguish things like that. The only real conclusion he could make was it came out of how he felt about him at ten and eleven. That those childhood feelings never actually went away, and had just evolved into what they were now.

He wasn’t sure what he was going to do about it, Craig seemed ready to get out of his apartment. He doubted he loved him back, why would he? He was definitely over him anyway. He still had feelings for someone they’d dated as a little kid?

“You okay, Tweek?” April said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He turned to her and saw she was frowning at him. “Boy trouble,” he muttered. Real understatement.

“Need advice?” she asked, her tone actually pretty sincere.

He shook his head. “Too complicated.” Besides, how many people slept with their best friend, who was also the person they’d dated a the age of ten, and was simultaneously the person who helped them accept they were gay? No one would be helpful in that situation.

She watched him. “You sure? This about your boyfriend?”

He shook his head. “We broke up, this is something else.”

“Oh,” she replied, her tone pretty surprised.

He didn’t blame her, it was pretty quick to already be into new drama with a different guy. But he couldn’t even see Craig that way, he wasn’t some random guy. He wasn’t someone he wanted to use to get over a breakup. He was everything to him. Hell, he’d meant more to him than both Blake and Logan.

Craig had always been the most important person to him. It was easy to brush off because he was his best friend and his friendship had never felt unfulfilling.

But if somehow Craig felt the same way about him, then he was going to jump at it. The only problem was he probably didn’t. If he did, then things should’ve easily been resolved in his bed.

He should’ve known one day their breakup would bite him in the ass. No one got an easy breakup, not even little kids who wanted one.

He sighed. “It’s fine, I’ll work it out.”

She bit her lip. “Okay,” she said. “But if you need any advice, just ask. I’ve had plenty of bad experiences”

He smiled a little. “It’s fine though. It’s complicated.”

“Will talking to him help?”

“Uh… I don’t know. Maybe?”

“Then talk to him. You can’t get what you want if you never actually talk about how you feel.”

She was right, he knew that but with how quickly Craig shut him out Sunday morning, he doubted he wanted to. Why would he even want to date him again? He remembered that he was the one to breakup with him, no matter how much he pretended it was mutual. He remembered feeling completely crushed by it, and forced himself to hide it because the last thing he’d wanted was to lose Craig’s friendship. He went along the rest of sixth grade pretending he was with their breakup.

He’d done his best to not think about it, and he hadn’t really thought about it since seventh grade. He’d even been able to stop himself from thinking about it on prom night. This time shouldn’t have been different. But for some reason it was. Why did it take this time for him to realise his feelings? Was it all because he actually really didn’t care Blake broke up with him? Because he was more than ready to move on, even more than a rebound?

But this time a rebound was pointless. He didn’t want to rebound onto Craig, he just wanted him. He thought he was well past him because what kind of pathetic person would still be hung up on someone they’d dated at ten?

Maybe he was just that pathetic. As if life was ever going to give him anything good. Shitty parents, two shitty boyfriends, and now his brain deciding he was still in love with his best friend.

Nothing ever worked out his way. Why would they now?

* * *

Tricia coming home for spring break – as well as the few extra days for Clyde’s wedding – meant one truly dreadful thing; they had to hang out with their dad.

Craig had mostly been able to avoid seeing his dad, mostly because he was so busy he’d rather sleep than use more energy for uncomfortable attempts at bonding. But Tricia being home meant their mom wanted them to actually acknowledge his existence. Craig was positive Tricia would rather spend her time with Karen.

Their dad decided a diner in town was the best place for their awkward bonding. Heat least offered to pay for everything.

He sat across from them in a booth, Tricia keeping her earphones in. She kept her eyes on her phone and Craig could see over her shoulder she was texting Karen. Her name had a few heart emojis next to it. How did he miss how gay his sister was?

“Trish?” their dad said as he reached across the table to tap her arm. “Do you think you can take those out?”

From where he sat, he could kind of see Tricia give him a look over her screen before pulling out her earphones. She didn’t put her phone down though, immediately going back to texting. Craig couldn’t blame her, he wasn’t at all over what their dad had done either. He probably wouldn’t ever be.

His dad’s focus shifted to him. “How’s your mechanic course been?”

He swallowed. “Good.” He kind of wanted to snap about it being the ‘manly’ thing he’d want him to do. But he still couldn’t really hold his dad to that school of thought. If he felt a certain way about it, Craig would rather just not know.

“Well, you’re close to graduating right? Looking forward to doing it for real?”

He shrugged. “Will definitely be nice to finally start getting paid for it.” He was actually pretty damn good at it too. He should find a job easily enough, hopefully one in Denver too.

“Will be,” he nodded. “I’ve also been meaning to ask, ready to be best man at Clyde’s wedding?”

“I guess,” he shrugged.

‘Ready’ could definitely mean a lot of thing. He hadn’t finished writing his speech yet, he’d barely started it. The only clear thing he had about the bachelor party was going to a steak house in Denver.

Clyde had worked out the guest list himself. Unsurprisingly, he did invite Stan along with Kenny, Kyle, Butters, and Cartman. He understood they were still friends after high school but Craig didn’t necessarily want to deal with them at a bachelor party.

Clyde did bring the subject of Stan up to him though. He didn’t want him to feel awkward, leading to Craig trying to explain that he and Stan were kind of friendly. Not friends exactly, like Stan had wanted, but he could be in a room with him. Even with Kyle there. He could already predict he wouldn’t feel jealousy, if they didn’t make it weird he wouldn’t make it weird.

Really, the thing he was most concerned about the bachelor party was Clyde’s straight friends finding out the bachelor party included two couples, then him and Tweek. They’d probably never been around more than two — maybe even one — queer guys at once, they probably couldn’t handle six.

The bachelor party was a week before the wedding. Craig had pretty much gotten over the fact Clyde was getting married, but he was still pretty surprised he was getting married so young. The closer the wedding got, the more real it felt.

Which meant, he really had to finish his best man speech. He’d have to figure that out eventually.

“I can’t believe that kid’s getting married,” he dad said with a small laugh. “Feels like yesterday you were on the streets playing superheroes.”

Funny thing was, it really did. He remembered only playing because Tweek wanted to, going as far to give him one of his hoodies so they could match. Ten year old him would really bend over backwards for Tweek, just as much as he would now.

“Well, guess we grew up too quickly.”

He nodded then looked back at Tricia, who was still on her phone. Before he could say anything to her, his phone rang. He took it out and frowned. “Gotta take this,” he said before standing up and walking outside.

“Don’t hurry back,” Tricia muttered next to him.

He smiled and let out a small laugh. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Still texting your girlfriend though?”

That caused her to blush. “She’s helping me keep my sanity.”

He nodded, even though she wasn’t looking at him. “Hows the long distance going?”

She shrugged. “Fine, I guess?” she turned to look at him. “We talk a lot so it’s fine.”

He smiled. “That’s good.”

“Mhm,” she mumbled. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Are you dating anyone?”

He blinked at her. “Uh, no,” he said. “Haven’t had the time.”

That was true. He really just hadn’t. Well that and no one had caught his attention. He’d probably pin himself as more picky if anything. He got bored way to easily with the guys Nathan would try to introduce him to in college.

That was why he was so surprised with how easily he’d slept with Tweek, something Tricia sure as hell didn’t need to know. But he couldn’t figure out how he could get carried away with Tweek of all people.

They hadn’t talked about it, they hadn’t talked at all since Sunday morning. Which he’d expected, they were both too busy this week to talk anyway. But he wasn’t sure how to face him on the weekend. He was still planning to just go the route of pretending it didn’t happen. Why would Tweek care? He’d just gotten out of a relationship, he was probably just confused by his hurt and got impulsive. Him getting impulsive when he was emotional was normal.

Besides, there wasn’t really anything to talk about. He’s known people who had sex with friends just because. _They’d_ had sex before and got past it fine. It wasn’t a big deal. This time shouldn’t be any different.

“I still can’t believe you dated Stan though. Not your best choice.”

He punched her shoulder and glared at her as she gave him a sugar sweet smile. “Please don’t remind me of that.”

“Never.”

The joy in their conversation ended when their dad sat across form them again.


	52. Chapter 52

For Clyde’s bachelor party, everyone agreed to meet at the steak house in Denver. They had to get a big table since including the wedding party – about eight of them plus Clyde – there were about eleven of them. Clyde seemed to be aware if was excessive but he also didn’t seem to care all that much. Craig was pretty sure they’re would’ve been more if a lot of his college friends didn’t live out of state and could only make the wedding next week.

The steak dinner did provide the opportunity to not have to talk to strangers. Him, Tweek, Jimmy, and Token were on their own side of the table while Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Butters, and Cartman sat between them and Clyde’s friends.

Clyde had sat himself at the head of the table, and Craig was in the first spot next to him, Tweek next to him. One of Clyde’s friends had gotten him one of those ‘groom to be’ sashes. For a moment, Craig worried he’d brought something for everyone to wear but thankfully he didn’t.

Clyde’s group of college friends weren’t really the worst people in the world. Though he quickly noticed the way they used ‘bro’ and had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

Before Clyde’s friends had arrived, he’d asked him if they knew about a lot of his friends being queer, especially the fact that there were two couples. Clyde noted he hadn’t, since apparently he hadn’t thought about it. Hopefully that meant his friends weren’t homophobic.

The start of the night was overall fine. They weren’t obnoxiously loud, which seemed to be a relief to the staff. The place itself was loud enough to drown out their own noise anyway, so they didn’t ever stand out among everyone else, other than the large group and Clyde’s sash.

There was one thing Craig did notice in the noise and that was how weirdly quiet Tweek was. Not weird in the not talking to strangers sense, but in the sense where he didn’t seem to at all engage in conversations. He seemed to just eat his steak in silence, never involving himself in the conversation unless spoken to directly. And even when he was, he only gave one worded answers at most.

Craig couldn’t figure out what the problem could be. Tweek wasn’t the type to close off like this with him. Even small jokes he’d made to Tweek to at least prompt conversation only got a grunt or a shrug in return. He’d never experienced this kind of coldness with him, and it was kind of worrying him.

The steak house dinner only lasted for so long and, as Craig had kind of predicted, Clyde’s friends wanted to do more. Hell, everyone else seemed to want to do more when they stepped outside into the street, and the obvious suggestion was brought forward.

“Why don’t we just go to a strip club?” asked Nicholas, Sophia’s brother and a groomsman. Apparently he was only a groomsman for Sophia’s family sake, and the annoyingly traditional nature of the family and the wedding meant they didn’t want to change things up and make him a brides-man or whatever. He pointed it out at the engagement party and Sophia’s family seemed scandalised by the idea.

Clyde gave a shrug. “Didn’t want to, mostly because I knew not everyone here would want to go to one.”

“Oh come on, we’re guys. What kind of guy wouldn’t want to go to a strip club?”

At his words, Craig and Tweek, and even Butters, put up their hands. Nicholas seemed to be entirely thrown off by it and stared at them.

“Do you want three guesses why?” Craig asked in a monotone voice, lowering his hand.

His lips formed a straight line. “Well, majority rules.”

“Uh, no, I actually kinda have to agree,” Stan cut in. “The idea of going to strip clubs at all but especially in a group, has always weirded me out.”

“Yeah,” Kyle nodded, the two of them standing next to each other but not doing anything obviously coupley. Craig kind of wondered where Kyle was with his own self acceptance. “Can we just go somewhere else?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It’s also _my_ bachelor party,” Clyde interjected. “And I already said I don’t want to go to a strip club. But I do kinda want to go to a regular club nearby.”

A straight club wasn’t necessarily somewhere Craig wanted to go, but he did remind himself it was Clyde’s bachelor party.

No one really argued with it, probably for the same reason, so they started to walk to the club. Craig kept to the back, where Tweek had drifted too. He was walking with his shoulders kind of slumped and his hands were stuffed into his pockets.

He watched him for a few moments and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Julian – one of the groomsmen – spoke up.

“So where’d Sophia go?”

“Uh, I think a gay bar on the other side of town,” Clyde shrugged.

Craig almost stumbled over his own feet. “Wait? She went to a fucking _gay bar_?” He could stop his groan.

Stan, who was a few steps ahead of him, snorted. “That’s so fucking cliché.”

“And plain annoying.”

One of the two other guys who’s name Craig couldn’t place turned to look at him. “Why?”

“Because bars have capacities and it’s annoying when straight women go and take up space.” His tone was monotone. He only got a shrug back and went back to talking to his friend, the other guys whose name he couldn’t quite place.

Kenny turned to look at him as he and Butters held hands. “We were at this more chill one recently and there was a bachelorette party, they were so obnoxiously loud.”

“Oh right!” Stan laughed. “They had like, what? Plastic dick crowns.”

Craig snorted. “Okay, can someone please promise me if I ever get married to slap anyone who suggests anything dick shaped.”

“Weren’t there dick shaped balloons too?” Kyle asked.

“ _Everything_ was dick shaped I think,” Butters interjected, scrunching his nose and laughing.

“I don’t get the problem,” Cartman cut in, walking a few steps ahead of them. Right, that jackass was here. “I thought you fags _liked_ dick?”

Craig stopped himself from rolling his eyes and the others seemed to collectively ignore him.

“The one at the bar we went to didn’t have anything dick shaped,” Tweek finally spoke. “At least from what we could tell where we sat. It was one of the ones that was more of a club.”

He smiled. “I’m pretty sure there wasn’t anything.”

Tweek looked at him, and hit bit his into a smile.

It was weird to hear him talk about the night while knowing how the night ended. He was doing fine with separating the two in his brain when he was the one talking about the bachelorette party, but hearing Tweek bringing it up made it difficult. Because no matter what he did, the night did happen and Craig realised he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do about it. Or even how he felt about it.

He knew he was lying to himself if he thought he could just leave the night as is. It was Tweek, not Stan, not Thomas, it was Tweek. Tweek wasn’t someone he could ever brush off or turn off feelings for.

When he’d slept with Thomas, there were no ties to bring them back together. He hadn’t spoken or even thought about him since that night.

Stan was more like a pest than anything. Their relationship wasn’t conventional, they fell into it if anything. It was easy to get out of. Craig didn’t love Stan, he didn’t have this ridiculous amount of care for him.

Tweek was Tweek. His best friend. A boy he liked a long time ago. The boy who helped him accept his own sexuality.

His first kiss, his first love, his first time having sex. Tweek was a list of firsts to him. He’d always meant more to him than everyone else. He cared way too much about him to just let that night exist as a mistake between them.

But he had to do it for their friendship. One mistake and it could be gone for good. They were lucky to maintain it after sixth grade, and with how messy adult relationships could get he could only see it burning down.

And that was why he didn’t like overthinking things with Tweek. He’d been keeping his mind focussed on friendship so he wouldn’t somehow start to like him again.

He wasn’t sure what he was meant to do now. Now all he could think about was the fact they’d had sex.

The best he could do was let the time pass and they both could forget it ever happened.

When they got to the club, Craig immediately noticed how different from gay bars it was. The obvious points of no one being obviously queer and men and men and women kissing each other, the entire aura felt off. Well, not exactly off but overall different. Maybe it was the stench of so many obviously straight guys in one place.

Clyde’s friends seemed to use the club as an opportunity to split off in their own group. The table they found to sit at did fit all of them, even if only half of them stayed. The only people left at the table were him, Tweek, Token, Stan, Kyle, Julian, and Nicholas. Jimmy, Cartman, and two of Clyde’s friends had went right to the alcohol, and Kenny and Butters were… Craig actually wasn’t sure. They’d probably retreated into their passionate PDA habits.

Craig had really hoped to avoid being stuck with Craig’s friends. It wasn’t the worst ratio it could be, but he would still rather not be around Clyde’s friends without him around too. He’d spent enough time around Julian and Nicholas during groomsman preparation.

The bright side of a large table was that they didn’t have to talk if they sat far enough away. Himself, Tweek, and Token had huddled together as far away they could get away from Julian and Nicholas. Stan and Kyle were a little bit away from them, sitting close together. Not outright PDA but it also screamed ‘we are not straight’.

It’d only now occurred to him that he hadn’t seen them act like a couple. He didn’t feel any sense of jealousy, but he couldn’t help but notice how happy they looked.

He wasn’t the kind of person who asked about other people’s relationship, he did wonder how they’d become one. How they managed to get that far without worrying about their friendship. He remembered Stan mentioning it hadn’t been easy, but they’d gotten to what they had now. If he remembered right, it’d been eleventh grade.

They fit weirdly well together, the more he thought about it. Stan definitely never looked at him the way he looked at Kyle.

“You’ve also known Clyde for years, right?” Craig heard Julian ask Stand and Kyle.

“Yeah,” Stan said. “Small town so everyone knew everyone growing up.”

“How do you two know him anyway?” Kyle asked.

“I’m Sophia’s brother,” Nicholas said.

“And college for me,” Julian said. “What was he like as a kid?”

“Huge crybaby,” Craig cut in.

“Massive,” Token agreed with a laugh.

He half expected Tweet to make his own comment but when he glanced his way, he saw he’d retreated into his weird quietness. He was sipping on his beer in-between fiddling on his phone.

A piece of him was actually kind of getting frustrated. He couldn’t figure out a reason he’d be completely shut out like this. To shut _him_ out. He knew it wasn’t just being around unfamiliar people, not when most of the people at the bachelor party were people he’d known since he’d left the womb.

“What’s he like in college?” Stan asked Julian, bringing him out of his thoughts.

“Didn’t he date a lot of girls?” Craig interjected. Then he turned to Tweek. “Didn’t you always say he brought girls back every week? Mostly to brag to Kenny?”

Tweek looked from his phone and at him. His face seemed pretty disinterested in the conversation. “Yeah, he did.” He turned to look back at his phone.

The rest of the table seemed to notice the coldness too and the conversation shifted to a different subject, no one bothering to include Tweek into it.

Sometime into the conversation, Tweek went up to get a drink. Craig didn’t say anything when he stood up, and, unless he imagined it, Tweek looked at him for a few moments before going towards the bar.

He watched him as he left when his back was to him. He stared even after he disappeared into the crowd.

He felt a nudge on his side and turned to look at Token. “What?”

Token looked at him, then glanced where Tweek had gone. “Are you two okay?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

He glanced back at him. “There’s clearly something wrong. Did something happen?”

Craig would pin Token as one of his best friends. It’d been that way since third grade. But he also wasn’t the first person he’d go to with the information that he and Tweek had slept together and he was trying to figure out what that meant and how that might be affecting Tweek.

No, their friendship was watching comedies and debating video games. Not that.

“I have no idea what you mean,” he said. “Maybe he’s still burnt from Blake breaking up with him.”

“Yeah, I don’t know about you but he didn’t seem into him enough to mope about it for a week. What happened, really?”

“ _Nothing_ happened. What makes you think I’d know anything or would have anything to do with it?”

Token watched him and huffed. “Okay, whatever you say.” He turned back to join in with the conversation the rest of the guys were having.

Craig bit his lip and turned to look back at the crowd, but he couldn’t see Tweek through the crowd. He took a deep breath and stood up to get through the crowd.

It was mostly guess work to figure out where the bar was, but he didn’t eventually find it. He saw Tweek sitting at the bar and a glass was in front of him.

He sat next to him, doing his best to not startle him. “Hey.”

Tweek turned to look at him. “Hi.”

“Were you gonna come back?”

He licked his lip and took a sip of his beer. “I don’t know.”

That’s it, he couldn’t take it anymore. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You’ve been weird all night.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not being weird.”

“Yes you are.”

“No I’m not.”

Before he snapped at him with another ‘yes you are’ and they’d end up in some kind of loop, he took a deep breath. “Tweek, really, what’s wrong? I can tell when something’s wrong, you know that.”

He downed his beer before standing up. For a second he thought he was going to walk off on him until he stood up and grabbed his hand. He started to pull him and Craig didn’t argue, letting him lead him through the bar.

He ended up pulling him to the bathroom. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the florescent light and white surroundings.

They were the only ones in it, and Tweek seemed to use that as an opportunity to lock the door. Craig watched him as he turned to look back at him.

Craig wasn’t sure what look he’d expected from him. It was definitely not a clenched door and one of the coldest looks he’d seen him give anyone.

Okay, he’d definitely fucked up about something.

“You’re a real piece of work sometimes, you know that?”

He blinked at him. “Uh, excuse me?”

He took a deep breath. “Are we just gonna, I don’t know, ignore or some shit we had sex?”

Craig wasn’t sure if he was surprised that was why. But it still felt like a punch in a gut when he said it. “Really, dude? That’s what this is about?”

Tweek gaped at him. “What? Were you just planning to forget about it?”

“Yes!” Of course he was. This was their friendship they were talking about. It shouldn’t be ruined by one dumbass mistake.

That was clearly the wrong answer. Tweek seemed to only get angrier. “No! For god’s sake Craig. You go on and on and _on_ about not being a casual person. And I know for sure I’m not casual to you.”

He was right. But that didn’t change anything. “We just got carried away. You were upset about Blake, I hadn’t been with a guy since Stan–”

“Oh don’t give me that shit,” he cut him off. “You can’t blame other things just because you don’t want to admit it.”

“Admit _what_?”

“That– fuck Craig, don’t you see it even a little?”

“See what?”

“That, I don’t know. That no matter what we do, no matter who we date, we always end up back with each other. It’s been like that since high school.”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t get what you’re talking about.”

He watched him as he swallowed and sighed. “Prom, not just the fact we had sex. But we went together. It’s like, I don’t know, we keep getting pushed towards each other.”

“I mean, yeah I like hanging out with you but that doesn’t mean there’s some force behind it.”

Tweek’s lips sunk into his bottom lip angrily. He stepped closer to him. “Craig, answer me this; why didn’t you date in college even when given the opportunity? And don’t give me the ‘not liking casual sex’ excuse. I’m sure some guys were into dating you. Why didn’t you give any a chance?”

His mind raced as he remembered all the guys Nathan had introduced him to. No matter how many times he told himself that was why he didn’t date, the more the truth pushed into his mind.

None of the guys measured up to Tweek. He hadn’t liked any of those guys as much as him. Some of the guys were really cute, and they were into him. But he got bored almost immediately and remembered how much he’d missed Tweek.

He couldn’t tell Tweek that though. He wasn’t even sure why Tweek was asking him.

“This is ridiculous,” he dismissed and tried to walk past him. Tweek blocked his path, crossing his arms. “For fuck’s sake, Tweek, what the hell is wrong?”

He shook his head. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

“No, clearly I don’t.” He didn’t mean for his tone to be so flat as he said it. He just wanted to go back to the table and enjoy the bachelor party.

His expression softened. The kind of expression that made his stomach warm. “Craig, I love you.”

He felt a cold rush down his back. Tweek was looking at him with glassy eyes. Craig could feel his heart racing in his chest.

“Tweek–”

“No, I’m talking.”

That was enough to shut him up for good.

He took a deep breath. “I didn’t realise it until a few days ago. I don’t know how long. I don’t even know if it grew out of when we dated. I just… I just know it’s been a while. And I’m tired of us dancing around this. Around _us_. I want us to stop pretending there isn’t something between us when we can both have boyfriends and would still rather play video games or watch movies together. I’m just so sick and tired of pretending that I’ll find someone who I like more than you. Or that I’m… over you.”

They let the words sit in the air for a moment. In truth, he wasn’t exactly sure how to react to that. He’d been sure Tweek would want just want to leave the night behind them and they could go on with their lives.

“Tweek, come on, we were ten.”

He knew how much of an asshole thing that was to say. But he couldn’t let his mind get carried away. It wasn’t like they could date again or anything. How pathetic would that be, still having feelings for the boy you liked at nine. That, and it was too much of a risk to their friendship. He didn’t want to lose him.

Tweek didn’t give him a cold look at his words like he’d expected, he looked… crushed. Utterly heartbroken.

“I’m sorry, am I wrong to say you were the one who always insisted our relationship meant something? You always hated it when people dismissed it. What? Now it suddenly means nothing?”

Yeah, he’d really fucked up. That was literally the thing that broke him and Jordan up. He’d always seen their relationship as something real and important. It _was_ real and it _was_ important. Without Tweek, he probably wouldn’t have realised he was gay until college. Hell, he’d probably still think he was straight. In a mix of deep denial and his own obliviousness, especially since it took Tweek telling him he’d liked Thomas to realise he most definitely had.

When he took too long to respond, that seemed enough for Tweek. He shook his head. “I’m going home.”

He didn’t stop him. He violently swung the door open and stormed right out of the bathroom and probably out of the bar too.

Craig didn’t run after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh no


	53. Chapter 53

If there was something Tweek was absolutely dreading, it was the fucking rehearsal thing the wedding party had to do.

He didn’t understand why they had to do it. Walking in a straight line wasn’t the hardest thing in the world.

Well, that and he just really didn’t want to see Craig.

He hadn’t planned on shutting Craig out the way he had at the bachelor party. When he saw Craig though, he’d clammed up and could only think about how he felt about him. He was nervous he’d say the wrong thing and how he felt about him would slip out.

He thought he’d be able to tell him in a calm manner. Maybe even a romantic manner. But his absolute denial that the sex they’d had might’ve meant something made him furious.

It didn’t matter. Craig clearly didn’t feel the same way but he could’ve guessed that. That weren’t fated or destined or whatever. He was just a guy in love with his best friend.

Avoiding eye contact at the wedding rehearsal was awkward but it was the only option they had. No one noticed as far as he could tell. Clyde, Token, and Jimmy could be completely oblivious to those kind of things. Especially anything between them.

That day was the first time he’d met the bridesmaid he had to walk down with. She seemed nice enough and he tried to make conversation with her. Mostly his eyes went to look at Craig when he wasn’t looking. Not his best idea since he just felt sick in his gut when he did.

Being best man and all, he had to spend his day with the maid of honour. Since he was Craig, he didn’t seem to bother making conversation with her.

It went for a surprisingly long time since the bridesmaid Jimmy was walking with kept complaining about how he might trip her with his crutches or Sophia and Clyde trying to figure out the order everyone should walk down.

Tweek wasn’t sure if he was surprised when Clyde stuck him next to Craig. It was a Clyde thing to do. It did seem to annoy Nicholas due to his brother status, which ended in him being stuck next to him. Clyde did try to insist that the order worked.

God, he really didn’t understand why Nicholas just wasn’t on Sophia’s side or not in the wedding at all.

The rehearsal was followed by going out for a fancy lunch. A big rehearsal dinner seemed to be the only thing that wasn’t part of the overly traditional wedding they were having. The idea of a lunch still seemed nice enough.

He still did his best to avoid Craig. He mostly talked to Jimmy and Token, as well as whatever bridesmaid who tried to make conversation.

He was about half way through his soup when one of the bridesmaids – Hannah, he remembered – leaned over to them.

“Kels,” she nodded to the girl a few seats down. “Wants to know if the best man’s single.” She nodded towards Craig, like they wouldn’t know who the bestman was.

Craig was on the other side of the table next to Clyde. As far as Tweek could guess, he wanted to avoid him as much as he did.

He looked away from him before he stared too much. He’d only realised Token and Jimmy were stifling laughs. Tweek had to stop himself from rolling is eyes. He might’ve found it funny another time but not when he was still upset over what had happened between them.

“I’m pretty sure, but he’s also gay,” Token said.

Kels seemed close enough to hear them and visibly deflated.

“God, I told her. Not straight man is ballsy enough to paint his nails.”

Tweek licked his lips and looked back at Craig. He was on his phone while he ate his soup. He only now realised this was probably the first time in a really long time they hadn’t sat next to each other by choice. He wondered if the guys had realised that too. If they had noticed tension between them, they hadn’t said anything. Which was weird, they were nosy as fuck half the time.

He was really wondering what this meant for their friendship. He didn’t want to ruin anything between them, and he was really scared he had. He didn’t want his anger to cloud his judgment and reasoning, but he’d gotten is angry. Especially when he said their relationship had meant nothing. Not after ten years of insisting their relationship had meant something. Even if they were kids, Tweek knows if it weren’t for Craig, he wouldn’t have come out to himself for a really long time. He would even pin those two years as better than both relationships he’d had.

He knew that wasn’t a good thing. He would’ve preferred to not be stuck on the same guy for so long. At least not when he clearly didn’t feel the same way. Because why would the most important person in the world to him still be hung up on him. He’d somehow convinced himself the reason Craig hadn’t really had a boyfriend was because maybe, possibly, he had feelings for him too.

He didn’t deserve things to go his way. His life never handed him anything. Why would the person he cared about most want him romantically? He didn’t deserve that.

He really couldn’t wait for this wedding to just be over and he could avoid Craig until things weren’t weird between them anymore. If that ever happened.

* * *

Craig only had about a half hour break from his apprenticeship, and lucky for him the garage he was working at was pretty close to a café.

He usually got himself a sandwich and a coffee while he fucked around on his phone, or tried to piece together his best man speech. He had some words down but it was still far from finished. The wedding was in a few days, and he’d been hitting himself for still not being done with it. He didn’t know Sophia well enough to include her in the speech, and he was trying to figure out some anecdotes about Clyde. He was still completely blanking, staring a the mostly blank piece of paper.

While he stared at the paper, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He held back a groan, he didn’t really want to deal with socialising right now.

He turned his head and he saw a completely unexpected face.

“Stan?”

He looked down at him with a neutral expression. “Hey, didn’t know you came around here.”

He raised his brow at him. “What do you want Stan?”

He sighed and sat across from him. “Okay fine, what happened between you and Tweek?”

He clenched his jaw at him. “What? You think because we dated for two seconds you’re entitled to my business?”

“Still an asshole, I see.”

“Yep. Are you done?”

Stan rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward to him like he hadn’t said anything. “You can act like I don’t know you but I do.”

“Having each other’s dicks in our mouths doesn’t mean you know me.”

“True, but we’ve known each other for a long time. I also know that you get really petty when you're mad at someone.”

“Name one time.”

“Being passive aggressive about Peru–”

“We could’ve _died_.”

“You literally didn’t talk to Token or Clyde for like a week because they like Xbox.”

“You’re the one who abandoned all your friends for the same reason.”

“And when you and Tweek first broke up when we were playing superheroes, you were so petty with each other. You would barely even talk to each other unless you were fighting.”

He opened his mouth to respond but no words came out of his mouth.

He remembered that fight all too well. It was a dumb fight looking back. Not one he could defend.

“What’s your point?”

“You and Tweek were weird for all of Clyde’s bachelor party. You two usually always come as a pair, and you two acted like you barely knew each other.”

Had it really been that obvious? Was it obvious to everyone else too or did Stan have some weird intuition like he claimed.

Well, if he were going to tell anyone, Stan seemed like a fair choice.

“He and I slept together.”

He waited for shock, surprise, something. But the only thing he got was an understanding nod. “Okay, so are you going to do anything about it?”

“What? Of course not. It was a mistake, it wasn’t meant to happen.”

He titled his head to the side. “Are you sure?”

“What do you mean ‘am I sure’? He’s my best friend.”

“A best friend you dated.”

“When we were ten for Christ sake.”

He raised a brow at him. “Okay, Mr. ‘the relationship meant something even if we were ten’.”

“It’s not that it didn’t, like, mean anything. It did. It just... Who the fuck his hung up on someone they dated at ten?”

“Maybe somebody who means a lot to you?

“You say that like you’re still hung up on Wendy.”

He shrug. “She’ll always have some special place in my heart, lesbian or not. But… you and Tweek weren’t me and Wendy. Remember how I said I broke up with you because I was hung up on Kyle?”

“Yeah?”

“I can’t say I didn’t think you were also hung up on someone.”

He frowned at him. “You think I’m still hung up on him?”

He nodded. “And if there wasn’t anything between you two, I don’t think you would be so petty over what happened. Either there’s nothing between you two, no feelings or anything, and you could go on with your lives. Or there’s some unresolved feelings you really need to get around to working out.”

His mind flashed back to Tweek telling him he loved him. How it was all perfectly on the table to actually talk and figure out what they were. What they wanted to do.

God, what was he going to do? Tweek was definitely mad at him. They hadn’t talked once during the wedding rehearsal because he knew he was. Clyde had somehow noticed something was wrong too, probably because it was the first time in a long time he didn’t sit next to him by choice. Anyone would noice that though. He had said anything about it, so he didn’t have to make up a lie.

For once, he just needed to tell someone the truth. “I don’t want us to fuck up our friendship.”

He nodded. “I know the feeling. Pettiness is still probably not your best idea.”

“I know that, but I don’t know what else to do.”

“Well, are you planning to do anything at all?”

His teeth sunk into his bottom lip. He knew there wasn’t much of anything that could be done. Not after what had happened at the bachelor party. There was no coming back from that.

“Fine, don’t do anything.” He stood up and pushed his chair in. “But ignoring how you feel won’t save your friendship. I learnt that the hard way.”

He watched him leave, and when the door closed behind him he stared for a few minutes before turning back to his best man speech.

He thought about him and Tweek, but he also thought about Clyde and how he had kind of nose dived into the marriage. How Clyde didn’t seem scared of anything. How he’d never seen him so sure about anything in all the time he’d known him.

He picked up his pen and started writing the first thing he could think of.


	54. Chapter 54

The wedding day started off with getting ready at Clyde’s place.

Craig arrived there already in his suite. He wasn’t sure exactly what the groomsman had to do compared to the bridesmaids. All he really knew was that they were taking separate limos to the church. All Craig really knew about that part was that he was going to be stuck in an even smaller space with Tweek.

He’d thought about the situation to the point he couldn’t stop thinking about it. His every waking thought had become trying to figure out the right way to figure things out with him.

It’d hit him hard after Stan left. He’d gone so long denying that something might’ve been there between them and that the right thing, the right _person_ , had been in front of him for so long.

Tweek was still angry at him, but he’d had what he was going to do to fix things mapped out in his head. Tweek just had to be willing to talk to him.

He was one of the first of the groomsman to get to Clyde’s. Nicholas and Julian were the only ones already there. He silently cursed none of his own friends had already arrived.

“Hey, you’re here!” Clyde grinned as he stepped into the living room.

He nodded. “I’m here. Will the rest of the guys be here soon?”

He shrugged. “They have the time, I guess they’ll be here when they want.”

He held back a groan and sat next to him on the couch. “What are we meant to do while we wait?”

He shrugged. “I’m ready. So we just have to wait for the others and then the limo.”

He nodded and leaned back against the couch. “Nervous?”

He shook his head. “No actually, I’m really just excited. Like, dude, I’m actually getting married!”

He smiled at him. “Yeah, how the hell are you the first of us to get married?”

“What? You think you would’ve bet me?”

“Maybe. Wasn’t planning on getting married so young.”

He shrugged. “Well, when you know you know.”

Yeah, that he knew for sure. That’s how Clyde saw the world. It was why he teased him for being so overemotional. In turn, he used to always make jokes about him being made of stone. It was a weirdly balanced friendship because of that.

Sometimes it was good to take a page from his book.

Tweek arrived after Jimmy had. He seemed to still be in Avoid Craig At All Costs mode. Which, if it was still in affect during the reception, would ruin the plan he’d had in place. Hopefully he would’ve put at least some walls down by then, he knew the best option now was to not push him. That would probably make things worse for him. The one thing he was planning to do though was let Tweek come to him, he knew he wouldn’t. Tweek could be stubborn, he’d sit around and wait in his own pettiness before willing to hear anything. He just had to hope he’d waited enough.

Jimmy and Clyde hadn’t asked if anything had happened between them. Craig was certain that by now, they’d noticed something had happened. Unlike Token, they hadn’t asked.

He was sure they’d discussed it between themselves. It reminded him of that time he and Tweek had fallen asleep on a beanbag in Token’s room. When they’d came in and saw their position, he remembered their comment about the two of them having feelings for each other. He’d brushed it off at the time, but he’d spent the last few days largely reflecting on the past few years and that they maybe, possibly, most definitely have had feelings for each other for a really long time.

He decided it was pretty pathetic to still like the guy you dated in fourth grade and he didn’t care. Tweek would always mean the most to him, that he knew for sure. He didn’t want to beat himself up anymore for still loving him.

That part of the day could wait until later. The wedding needed to happen, and Clyde was calling them for the limo.

They’d already been to the church for the rehearsal. It’d been the first time Craig had been in a church for a long time. His parents never forced him to go and he always chose staying home playing video games over falling asleep in mass.

They were forced to practice walking down the aisle far too many times. He had time to get to know the maid of honour – Emma – , and she seemed nice enough. Not so nice that he was looking forward to dancing with her though. He wondered if it weren’t for Sophia’s family wanting a huge, traditional wedding if Clyde would’ve even included a bestman/maid of honour dance in his wedding. Hell, he wondered if he would’ve had it in a church.

“Do your nails match your tie?” Emma asked as she took his arm, as they stood ready to walk down the aisle.

He nodded. “My sister made me get a manicure with her.” The ties matched the bridesmaid’s dresses, a blush rose sort of colour. His nails also some glitter in them. He wouldn’t have thought of matching the two until Tricia had suggested it. The glitter was something new for him too, and a wedding seemed as good of a time as ever to try it out. He found he really liked it.

“Finish your speech?”

He smiled. “Yeah, I actually did.”

She sighed. “I was up to like, 2am trying to finish mine.”

“I had kind of an epiphany and it made things easier.”

She raised a brow at him. “Wish I had one of those.”

He smiled at her and turned to look forward when the doors opened.

* * *

The wedding went off without a hitch and Craig almost emoted over it. His dry eyes got the usual tease from Clyde about being made of stone.

The reception was right after the wedding, and they’d travelled via limo. It was being held at some kind of manor right outside of Denver. They were secluded to one room, kind of like a ballroom, and lead right to a rose garden. He got a good look around as the rest of the wedding guests began to arrive.

The wedding party had their own table, and Tweek had had been seated between Jimmy and a bridesmaid. He hadn’t looked his way once. Craig really hoped his plan would work.

He was stuck next to Nicholas, and Emma was on his other side. He still didn’t necessarily want to make conversation with Nicholas, and Emma was talking to her own friends. He was pretty sure he spent half the time waiting for Clyde and Sophia to show up glancing at either his phone or in Tweek’s direction.

By the time the reception officially started, he was already halfway through his glass of champagne. Clyde and Sophia had their dance, which was followed by his and Emma’s. It was obviously awkward, mostly because he’d refused to have lessons for something he already didn’t want to do. He’d made a joke to Emma she could lead, which she rolled with when she’d realised he was inept at dancing. That night at the bar with Tweek was the closest he’d ever gotten to dancing, and that was really just swaying on the spot. They probably spent more time kissing than their version of dancing.

The reception had been building up to his bestman speech. In between Stan’s words to him and stopping his cynical thoughts on Clyde and Sophia’s relationship for a moment, he was able to scrap together something. He had to rewrite it a few times to get the words right. The result was a good bestman speech on its own, and the start of his plan to show Tweek he was an idiot and he wanted something to happen between them. Again. Because no matter how many people dismissed their relationship as something that wasn’t real, as something juvenile, that relationship meant everything to him and if they’d enter into a relationship, it’d be coming back together.

When it was time to give his speech, he was given a microphone and was directed to the front of the room. When he was given the okay, he turned to the crowd. His eyes found Clyde and Sophia, both of them giving him excited grins. His eyes strayed to the wedding party table, where he saw all eyes on him. Even Tweek, who looked clearly rigid in his place.

“I guess it’s time for me to do the speech part of my best-manning,” he began, getting the rest of the rooms attention and to quiet down. “I’ll spare you ‘ball and chain’ jokes, quips about Clyde being trapped, or anything like that. Mostly because I could only get married a few years ago and also because those jokes are just really annoying.” The last part got a small laugh from the crowd, and he didn’t miss the small smile Tweek cracked. He didn’t expect he’d start to wear him down that quickly. He probably still had a long way to go though.

“For those that don’t know, I’ve known Clyde my entire life. We’ve seen each other pretty much from learning to count, to games of superheroes, to messy teenage relationships. And there has always been one constant with Clyde; how much of a genuine person he is. And that’s why I’m not surprised by how sure he is with Sophia. I will say though, I have no idea how of our general friendship group, Clyde was the first of us to get married. I’m still at least a little bit confused, although I’m sure there’s engagements on their way with with how I’ve seen some of our friends.” He added a wink to the end of that sentence, as a laugh chorused through the room.

“And that brings me to Sophia and Clyde. I met Sophia pretty early on in her’s and Clyde’s relationship. Soon enough, Clyde was pretty head over heels for her. I can say for certain I’d never seen him so in love. I was pretty surprised at first, as I’d never seen him like that before. After he proposed, Clyde was so sure of him and Sophia. I remember him saying ‘when you know you know’. Now, my usual cynical self thought that was a stupid stament at first, but the more I saw Sophia and Clyde together, the more I realised he had something there. Clyde had also once said it was better to end relationships you weren’t sure of than settle out of fear of not finding anyone else. And as the victim of two dead end relationships, I can say he’s right about that.”

He looked to where Stan was sitting, and saw him laugh as he smiled at him. His eyes went back to Tweek whose eyes were locked on him.

He licked his lip before continuing. “I also remember once being told, a really long time ago actually, that love doesn’t follow a plan. I was pretty young when I’d heard it, and hadn’t thought much about it. The older I get though, the more I realised that it’s a true sentiment. Love to me, for sure, is something that comes to you. You don’t go for the first nice face on Tinder or go into a relationship you know is doomed from the start if you want love. If Clyde and Sophie have taught me anything, it’s that ‘love doesn’t follow a plan’ are definitely words to live by. You go for the good thing when they’re right in front of you, and the one thing you shouldn’t do is let that love get away from you when it wants you just as much as you want it.

“Well and truly, congratulations to Clyde and Sophia. Anyone who can catch Clyde’s attention for more than a week is for sure an incredible person. In the short time I’ve known Sophia, I can already see that. Congratulations to the both of you, and thank you to everyone for listening to this attempt at a speech.”

The crowd cheered when he set the mic down. He glanced to Clyde and Sophia wo were in the middle of a kiss. Then his eyes shifted to Tweek. His mouth was hanging open, and he was blinking rapidly.

Emma did her own speech after he sat down, which was full of both jokes and tears. Her own speech didn’t have an undertone of delerations of love, at least from what he could tell.

After Emma’s speech, the guests either stayed at their tables or moved to the dance floor as the band played their first song.

Tweek stayed at his spot at the table. He hadn’t looked at him when he sat down. His shoulders were stiff and his head was down, staring at his lap.

He took a deep breath and stood up. He walked around the table, and placed a hand on his shoulder. He’d expected a flinch, instead he got Tweek stiffly turning to look at him.

“Hey,” Craig said and smiled down at him.

“Hi. Nice speech.”

“Thanks.” He licked his lip before biting it. “Can we talk?”

Tweek stared at him for a few moments, before he nodded and stood up.

The walked a few feet apart from each other as Craig lead him to the rose garden. It seemed to be the most private place for them to go.

The rose garden had a patio with a small path to a gazebo. Tweek was still kind of rigid, so he made no move to touch him as they walked to the gazebo. Tweek was silent the entire way, keeping his arms crossed over his stomach.

They were soon under the gazebo. The smell of roses was slightly overwhelming but it was too late to pick a different spot to do this.

“What did you want to talk about?” Tweek asked. His arms were still crossed as he turned to face him. It was only the middle of the day, making his face brightly lit in the sunlight as it shone on his barely tamed blond hair.

Craig swallowed as he met his eye. “I think I should start with that I’m sorry. For what I said at the bachelor party. It was stupid and wrong and… the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you. But I’m a dumbass and did, and for that, I’m so fucking sorry.”

Tweek stared at him expectantly. “You’re speech, why did you bring up that whole ‘love doesn’t follow a plan’ thing?”

“Because it’s probably the smartest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“That’s not that high of praise since I said it when I was ten. Especially since it was in our ‘we’re not gay’ phase.”

“Well, it’s true. It’s, well, it’s something you were right about. You can’t just let love get away from you when it’s right in front of you. The us thing? You were right, there’s always been an us in some form even when we weren’t together, and I mean that before and after. Even when we were eight and nine, I think there was something kind of constantly pushing us together. Maybe it was mostly our crushes on each other that did it, but it was always something. Then when we broke up, the only reason I can think of why I ever even considered that was because we were so young and sometimes I thought that it’d be bad we would be together for too long. After we broke up though, it was like I was being reminded every day it was the wrong thing to do.

“I think I figured out why I never dated when given the chance or why the only relationships I did have were set up to fail; nothing and no one ever compared to you. I never liked anyone as much as I liked you. I never really realised how much I did it until recently. What you and I had at ten was above and beyond anything I’ve had as an adult. I don’t care if anyone says we would’ve been too young to really get it, I know that I had it with you.”

He stepped closer to him as Tweek stared at him with his mouth wide open.

“Tweek, I love you. I wish I wasn’t an idiot and realised it sooner. I love you, and I think I always have. I think what we had as kids just grew into what I feel for you now. It never went away, and I was a dumbass to think I could push it away. I shouldn’t have pushed you away after we slept together, I should’ve–”

Tweek’s hand slapped over his mouth, muffling his words. “You talk too much. Can you just get to the part where you kiss me?”

He grinned against his hand. He gently took hold of it and moved it from his mouth. Tweek was smiling back at him and they leaned into each other, kissing somewhere between gentle and passionate.

Tweek held him by his hips, pulling him closer so their chests were pressed together. Craig’s hands cupped his face.

This kiss was different. It wasn’t cloaked under excuses and lies to themselves. There was no denial of their feelings. It was just the two of them, finally in a position where they could give in to each other and be together.

When they pulled away, Tweek was smiling brightly at him. They rested their foreheads against each other. Craig felt like he could fall right into his blue eyes. Their noses brushed against each other and Tweek fell forward, his face burying into his neck.

“I love you too.”

He smiled and rested his cheek against his hair. It still smelt horribly of hair gel, but he didn’t let it ruin the moment. He could feel Tweek’s heartbeat against him as they stood in the position for a few moment. Craig wasn’t totally sure how long. It was a touch he’d missed. Not just a touch of a guy, it was specifically Tweek’s touch. The way he’d hesitate for a moment, the soft nature of his touches, how his fingers always seemed to find his skin and gently graze them.

“God, we could’ve had this a long time ago if we weren’t idiot,” Craig mumbled against his hair.

Tweek turned to look back at him. “Well, we wouldn’t be us if we weren’t idiots, would we?”

No, the definitely wouldn’t. From the start of their relationship, they were a pair of idiots who had no idea of what they were doing from the start. That was them, and he loved it. He loved what they were, and all he cared about was that they finally had each other this way now. He took so long to realise how much he’d wanted him like this, part of him couldn’t believe it was really.

“Just to clarify,” Craig said. “Boyfriends? Again?”

He met his eye again and bit his lip as he smiled and nodded. “I’d like that.”

He smiled back at him. He was so gorgeous. He hadn’t let himself notice things like that since they’d broken up. His best friend, his goddamn _boyfriend_ , was so gorgeous. “Cool.”

“Cool.”

If they could’ve, he would’ve stayed wrapped up in Tweek forever. The image that soon they could be wrapped up in a bed together while they exchange lazy kisses flashed through his mind, and he realised he’d never wanted anything more in his life.

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He groaned against Tweek as he pulled his phone out, looking at the screen over his shoulder.

Clyde: _dude where are you? We need to do wedding party pictures out the front_

Oh right, they were at Clyde’s wedding.

“Our groomsman duties are calling,” Craig said stepping away. “Literally.” He showed the screen to him.

“ _Shit_. I literally forgot.”

He laughed. “Should we go in holding hands or what?”

“Yeah. You know as well as I do that the guys will love it.”

They would. That was the funny part. They’d probably be almost happier about them dating again than they were.

* * *

Holding Craig’s hand as they walked to the front of the manor almost felt like he’d stepped into a time machine.

Craig’s hand was warm, and his fingers had intertwined between his fingers. The feeling reminded him when they’d technically come out and held hands on main street. That day was mostly anxiety and excitement and happiness. Today was the same, only without the anxiety.

They found Clyde, Sophia, and the rest of the wedding party out the front. They looked at each other and shared a smile.

As they walked to them, one of the bridesmaids noticed them. She cocked her head to the side for a moment, before seemingly shrugging it off and turning back at the bridesmaid she was talking to.

Token was the first of their friends to see them. “Oh there you two are.”

Jimmy and Clyde turned in their direction too. “Cool, c’mon we need those pic…” Clyde trailed off, staring at their hands. “Wait…”

“What?” Craig asked with an innocent smile.

Tweek gave his own let go of his hand and shrugged his arm around his waist. “Don’t we have pictures to take?”

“You guys,” Token said with a laugh. “Fuck, _finally_.”

Clyde stared at them with his mouth gaped open. “I _knew_ something was up with you two.”

“Yeah yeah,” Craig said with an eye roll and Tweek smiled and squeezed his hip. “Can we just take the pictures?”

Understandably, Clyde and Sophia wanted a lot of pictures of the wedding party. There was one with all of them, one with just Clyde and the groomsman, one with Sophia and the bridesmaids, and Clyde absolutely insisted on him, Tweek, Craig, Jimmy, and Token having their own series of pictures.

Once they were done, Craig took his arm and they walked back to the wedding party table together. Since half the table was gone, Craig sat himself in the seat left by the bridesmaid, pushing the chair so they were as close as possible.

He was sure that at least some people saw them together. Even in the low-key PDA they both – since there was no way he was going to kiss Craig in a public place – it was pretty obvious they were a couple. This time around, it just didn’t have the condescending way adults would call them ‘special little friends’.

He and Craig could finally we together for real, and he still couldn’t believe it.

“I was thinking,” Tweek said. “Did you want to move in with me?”

Craig gave him a smile with a raised brow. “That’s something quick to ask, we just kissed five minutes ago.”

He playfully punched his shoulder. “Really, you want to move out, don’t you? It’d be easier for the both of us if we move in eventually anyway.”

He nodded. “Well, it would make my life easier. Though I think most people wouldn’t move in with someone they’re dating so quickly.”

“I think it’s fair to say we’re an exception.”

Craig bit his lip and he smiled. “Yeah, we definitely are.”

The sound of heels came clambering towards the table. The two of them turned their heads to see an ecstatic looking Tricia and Karen.

“What do you want?” Craig grunted at Tricia.

She looked between them, clutching her phone to her chest. “So Kenny wasn’t lying!”

They looked at each other. “People already gossiping?” Craig asked as he looked at her.

“Kenny saw you step outside. Holding hands is good enough of an indicator that you two are back together– you are back together, right?” Karen asked, tilting her head to the side as her eyebrows raised in interest.

“Yeah,” Craig said. He was smiling as he did.

“About fucking time,” Tricia said.

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Tweek laughed.

“Don’t act like you two haven’t been literally in love with each other since you were ten,” Tricia said and crossed her arms over her chest. “But genuinely, I’m happy you two finally realised it.”

“Thanks?” Craig said.

Tricia grabbed Karen’s hand. “But I’m still the gayest cousin.” And she and Karen ran off – or at least as much as they could in heels – and laughed.

“No you’re not!” Craig called after her.

Tweek laughed and squeezed his thigh. “How did those two end up together?”

“Who even knows?” Craig said. “Red’s still dating Nichole too. I would say they’re less surprising.”

He nodded. He knew that they were dating. He and the rest of the guys had all expected Token to be surprised about the relationship when they’d posted it on Instagram a few years ago, but he seemed to just shrug it off and point out they were ten when they’d dated. Funny what he thought applied to the ten years old rule and what didn’t.

“I don’t like the idea of people watching our every move though,” he said.

Craig learned closer to him. “Don’t worry. People are just nosy.”

He nodded. “We’ll be hearing about this for months.”

“Worth it though.”

He smiled. “Yeah. It’s definitely worth it.”

* * *

When they got back to Tweek’s apartment – technically kind of their apartment now? At least almost – they didn’t have sex, instead they went to the bed and laid down next to each other.

Before getting into the bed, they stripped off their suit jackets and abandoned their ties. Craig undid a few buttons on his dress shirt while Tweek undid them all but kept his shirt on.

Tweek cuddled into his side, his nose burying into his neck. His lips grazed his skin as Craig rubbed the skin of his hip bone exposed under his shirt.

He hadn’t realised how much he needed that intimacy. He never had it with Stan, it was always a quick fuck for them. He craved lying down and exchanging soft and lazy kisses while they fell asleep in each others arms. Where they could lay in bed all day if they’d wanted to, just enjoying the silence together, hearing nothing but the sound of the other’s heartbeat.

Tweek fiddled with the hands that we’re at his hip. “Your nails are sparkly,” he mumbled.

He smiled. “Thank you.”

He rolled onto his stomach. “I really wanna shower, mostly to get this stupid gel out of my hair.”

He groaned. “I don’t want you to go.” He tightened his grip around him.

He laughed and kissed him. “You can come with me.”

He smiled at him. “Okay.”

They undressed and went into the shower together. They didn’t need to say it was for the continued intimacy they were exploring rather than sex. It was new territory they were desperate to explore. Not children who got shy over a peck or teenagers who felt close enough to have sex. Or even just a few weeks ago, two people who weren’t sure how to get the romantic intimacy they were desperate for.

Craig helped Tweek wash the gel out of his hair, and teased him about how much it must’ve taken to make his hair flat. Or mostly flat.

Being under the warm water with him was relaxing. Tweek didn’t have a bath, so they couldn’t even attempt to go into one. That was one for the bucket list.

Tweek did let him kiss him but he did freak out a little, pointing out they had to be careful or they’d slip. He listened, and promised to make sure he held him upright.

For the first time in his life, everything felt like it was actually going to go right for him, and it’d been right in front of him for so long.


	55. Epilogue

_One year later_

Tweek absolutely hated how much oil Craig came home in, which lead to him having day showers at the weirdest times during the day.

They apartment was still full of boxes. Ever since Jean had come over to visit she had really been on his ass about it at work, asking him if they’d even attempted to start to unpack. It’d been a month since then, and the most they’d done was take out more blankets since Tweek always hogged them. Other than that, they’d been stretching out the same plates and cutlery.

Tweek had finally moved fully out of his weird baker and cashier blend into a full time baker at Sweet Dreams Delights. The down side of that was he woke up so early in the morning and Craig had never been a heavy sleeper.

“Babe, I’m home!” he called as he walked through the door.

“In our room!” he called back.

He smiled and walked the short distance to their room. He popped his head in. He saw him on his laptop, resting on the bed. “Can I get a kiss?”

He scrunched his nose at him. “No way, not until you shower grease monkey.”

He frowned at him. “Rude.” But he was still covered in oil and he didn’t want to stain their sheets by jumping on him and trying to kiss him. He’d learnt that the hard way.

He quickly showered, enjoying the feeling of being clean. As much as he loved his job, he didn’t love being covered in oil by the end of the day.

Surprisingly, he’d been getting along pretty well with his coworkers. He’d avoided mentioning Tweek in the first few weeks and took a break from doing his nails when he’d started working there. He officially stopped caring when Tweek came by with a cupcake on his birthday. There were questions of who he was, and Craig finally fessed up. At that point, he was pretty comfortable around them and didn’t really care if they knew he was gay. After the shrug he got – not even a lewd comment was made – he went to work the next day wearing his favourite dark blue nail polish.

Overall, adjusting to life with Tweek had been easy. His parents were pretty ecstatic by the news, which he kind of knew they would be.

Tweek hadn’t told his own parents. He hadn’t spoken to them since he visited them in prison. Craig couldn’t blame him, he knew it was better for him to cut them out of his life completely.

Tweek had started going to therapy too. It took a little bit of convincing but Tweek started going to see one six months ago. He had to assure Tweek he genuinely didn’t think he was broken, but seeking out someone wasn’t a bad thing either. He didn’t talk about his sessions when he’d come home but he did notice he was getting a better hand at his anxiety than he’d had before.

It was a pretty mundane life. A life he was happy he’d have with Tweek.

When he stepped out in a clean set of clothing, he crawled on the bed next to Tweek.

“Now do I get a kiss?” he pouted.

He smiled. “Yep.” And he leaned forward and pressed his lips to his. Craig smiled against his lips and kissed him back.

When they pulled away he sniffed him. “Did you use my body wash?”

“What? Lush’s shit smells really good!”

“Buy your own shit.”

He laughed and buried his face in his neck. He still sometimes wondered why he pushed away feelings for so long. He and Tweek worked so naturally together, like they’d always been meant to fall into each other. Like breaking up at eleven was useless because they would always be each other’s someone.

“I love you.”

“I know,” he mumbled and leaned into him. “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And... there's the end! I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought if you'd like. I'm really proud of this and love how it turned out.


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